ROYAL GEORGE DEVELOPMENT ON HOLD

It looks like, as is the case with so many other developments, the Royal George residential development in East Fremantle, will be on hold for a while.

A significant change application has been lodged with Western Australian Planning Commission, asking for a significant delay in the start of construction of the futuristic and iconic building.

Roel Loopers

EXCITING ROYAL GEORGE HOTEL DEVELOPMENT A SMALL STEP CLOSER

I am stoked that there is progress with the amazing Royal George residential building in East Fremantle. Saracen Properties will be holding a preview on April 19 at 5pm.

They will be building 26 apartments, and that will be pretty exclusive living in the George Street precinct.

One bedroom apartments will cost $ 550.000, two bed are $ 990.000, three beds $ 1.9 million, and four bedrooms will cost the buyers $ 2.8 million.

The building is designed by the Fremantle-based Spaceagency architects.

Roel Loopers

POSSIBLE ROYAL GEORGE SALE TO NIGHT OWL

The old Royal George Hotel in the East Fremantle George Street precinct is under offer from the Night Owl Entertainment Group, according to a report in the West Australian today.

The property is owned by the Saracen Property Group, that intends to build an iconic nine-storey residential building behind the Royal George.

Night Owl is running the Flight Club in Perth, and will open a second Flight Club in the Newport Hotel on the Fremantle Cappuccino Strip, due to open on April 14.

If the sale comes through, Night Owl wants to develop it into a cellar restaurant, bar, and it would also have hotel rooms.

Roel Loopers

ROYAL GEORGE HERITAGE TLC LOOKING GOOD

It is so good to see proper heritage preservation of the Royal George building in East Fremantle and I sincerely hope that future use of it will benefit the community, or will it be yet again just another pub.

The very modern residential development behind the old building, designed by Freo’s own Spaceagency architects, should also start this year and that is a very exciting landmark building to look foward to.

ROYAL GEORGE HOTEL FOR LEASE OR SALE!

Interesting to see this advertisement in the property pages of the West Australian today, where Saracen Properties is offering the Royal George hotel in East Fremantle for lease or for sale.

The selling/leasing agents also told the West Australian that the promised eleven-room boutique hotel could be scrapped, depending on what the new owners or lessee want to do with the building.

Good news is that Saracen is saying that the landmark nine-storey residential development behind the old hotel, designed by Michael Patroni of the Fremantle Spaceagency, will be completed by 2024.

Roel Loopers

BEAUTIFUL EAST FREMANTLE

Two photos I took in East Fremantle this morning. The cupola on the old Royal George Hotel looks wonderful, and the little street library on a verge in Marmion Street is such a lovely idea.

Roel Loopers

ROYAL GEORGE DEVELOPMENT START EARLY NEXT YEAR

To the daring belongs the future!

Good to read this morning that Saracen Properties intend to commence the construction of the very modern and creative residential building, at the back of the Royal George Hotel in East Fremantle’s Duke Street, early next year. With building completion estimated to be in 2023, so that is nice and fast.

It will be wonderful to see the former hotel restored to its old glory and be used and activated, after years of neglect.

The building designed by Fremantle based Michael Patroni of spaceagency architects has a hint of the amazing work of Friedensreich Hundertwasser, and will no doubt become an iconic landmark and a tourist destination.

The render on the left is the Royal George development, and the one on the right one of Hundertwasser’s creations.

Roel Loopers

EAST FREO MAYOR CONCERN ABOUT ROYAL GEORGE

East Fremantle Mayor Jim O’Neill has put a statement out concerning the WAPC approval of the Royal George residential, development approval, so I will post parts of it here:

Following yesterday’s decision by WA Planning Commission (WAPC) to approve the redevelopment of the Royal George Hotel site including refurbishment of the building and the construction of a nine-storey building with 24 apartments at the rear, the Town of East Fremantle has expressed concern about its impact on the area.  This approval comes at the end of a long campaign where the Council has fought hard for the best result for the community.

Site history: 

• State government sell Hotel and land to Saracen Properties P/L in 2017.
• Minister for Planning approves development controls in 2020 allowing for zero commercial parking to be provided and limiting building height.
• Landowner lodges a development application under new planning legislation which facilitates determination of development application by WAPC in 2021.
• Council invited to make submission on the development application July 2021. 

Key points of the redevelopment:

• The development is worth $24 million.
• Provides for “adaptive re-use of the hotel with an artisan food and beverage production area, cellar door sales, a small bar, restaurant and 10 restored hotel rooms”.
• The new apartment building on the northern side of the hotel will house 24 apartments and 52 cars bays mostly in an underground car stacker, including 44 residential bays and eight commercial bays for hotel staff.

Public comment

• 238 public submissions were received on the proposal:
• 39 per cent were against the development, citing the lack of parking for the hotel and the height of the apartment building, which is about 3m higher than permitted under the Local Planning Scheme.
• 41 per cent supportive subject to changes being made, and
• Only 20 per cent were in favour.

We are thankful that this important heritage building is receiving a sensitive restoration and will finally be a centre piece for Plympton, East Fremantle and greater Fremantle. The commercial uses will allow it to be open for the community. Our concerns about the building height of the apartment development on this site have not been addressed, and this we know will be disappointing to residents in Plympton Ward and others.

……we have concerns that the proposal still exceeds the building height limit by three metres.

The development approval has been conditioned to require the developer to work with the Town to provide where possible additional parking in nearby streets and this includes a financial contribution to the Town.

George Street is special, it has unique heritage significance and constraints and any proposals for this precinct need to be undertaken carefully. We would have preferred, and have worked hard for, a better outcome here.

I bumped into architect Michael Patroni at the Fremantle Biennale opening and he told me the WAPC approval means that construction of the building has to commence within 18 months.

Roel Loopers

D DAY FOR EAST FREO’S ROYAL GEORGE DEVELOPMENT

Thursday November 4 will be a big day for East Fremantle, when the WA Planning Commission will decide on the application for a tall and very modern residential building behind the old Royal George Hotel in Duke Street.

The development application was lodged by Saracen Properties and the design of the very creative building was done by Fremantle’s Michael Patroni of the spaceagency architects.

Roel Loopers

FUTURISTIC DESIGN FOR EAST FREMANTLE

HAVE YOUR SAY: ROYAL GEORGE HOTEL

A development application for the Royal George Hotel site has been submitted to the State Development Assessment Unit (SDAU) and will be assessed/ determined by the SDAU/ WAPC under the ‘Significant Development’ pathway in accordance with new planning legislation gazetted in July 2020.

The Town of East Fremantle is only a referral body for this application, providing comment to the SDAU regarding the proposed development. The Council is required to consider the proposal and should it wish to do so formally make a submission to the WAPC.

All enquiries and comments should be directed to the SDAU. Advertising commenced on Thursday, 20 May 2021 and will close on Friday 18 June 2021, and that all relevant documentation associated with the application will be made available to be viewed and downloaded from the Department of Planning Lands ad Heritage (DPLH) Consultation Hub website: https://consultation.dplh.wa.gov.au/…/hotel…/

Roel Loopers

P.S. Design by Michael Patroni of spaceagency architects, Fremantle