108-room hotel with rooftop pool proposed for Darwin Waterfront
A Northern Territory developer has lodged plans for a six-storey, 108-room hotel at the Darwin Waterfront, positioning the project as a fillip for tourism and business in the lifestyle precinct. It arrives months after a rival $100 million development collapsed.
The application, lodged by Sheridan Consulting alongside local architect and builder Randal Ashford and current landowners The Pumphouse Gang, proposes the hotel at the entry to Stokes Hill Wharf, sitting adjacent to the Jetty Restaurant and next door to the Larrakia Cultural Centre, with 180-degree harbour views.
The proposal includes 54 one-bedroom suites and 54 two-bedroom suites across levels one to five, many with private balconies. The top floor would feature an open-air communal recreation area incorporating a pool terrace, gym, playground, barbecue facilities and a multipurpose exercise room. At ground level, the plans include car parking, end-of-trip facilities and a new publicly accessible pedestrian boardwalk along the harbour frontage.
The development promotes itself as introducing a "high-end short-stay accommodation option" that would generate commercial activity throughout the day and night, complementing existing dining and entertainment venues in the precinct.
The design incorporates green walls and vertical landscaping across all levels, which alongside window glazing is described as a "passive climate control measure" aimed at reducing cooling requirements and softening the building's visual bulk.
The proposal comes after a Singaporean developer pulled the pin on an 11-storey, $100 million luxury hotel planned for a nearby Waterfront site late last year, following sustained objections that the project would impact an Aboriginal sacred site at Stokes Hill. The latest application makes no mention of sacred sites and states there are no heritage listings on the lot.
One sticking point in the current proposal is parking. The planning scheme requires 60 spaces for the site, but the developer is providing only 56, arguing the shortfall is acceptable given the site's proximity to a large public car park and the provision of substantial bicycle facilities.
The hotel is also designed to be built alongside the existing two-storey structure on the site, which houses the Jetty Restaurant and offices, rather than requiring demolition of the current building.
Public submissions on the development application close at midnight on June 26.
Jonathan Jackson, 17th June 2026
