The team behind Little Creatures Brewery in Fremantle has unveiled its latest project – a 74-room hotel on William Street in Northbridge.
Perth hospitality heavyweights Adrian Fini, Nic Trimboli, David Martin, Miles Hull and Howard Cearns were revealed yesterday as the proponents behind a six-storey hotel project near the Perth Cultural Centre at 214 William Street.
The hotel will incorporate the 1950s façade of the former National Bank building and will include a mezzanine level and roof terrace bar.
The hotel's ground floor reception and lobby will be accessible from James Street while a restaurant and small bar will front William Street.
Construction will start this year, with the hotel due to open late next year.
Mr Cearns said the "European-style" hotel would be targeted at independent travellers looking for something a little different.
"It's designed really for those travellers who are probably less interested in spending a whole bunch of time in a hotel room and more interested in the location,"Mr Cearns told Business News.
"Having it in Northbridge where you've obviously got the cultural centre, it's an entertainment precinct and it's on the fringe of the city has some appeal to certain types.
"We intend to try to put quite an individual look and feel to it."
Mr Cearns said while the hotel would appeal to a range of demographics, it would not compete with hotels at the top end of town.
"If you like your flash, corporate, slick big-room hotel with lots of service then this is probably not for you," he said.
The group launched plans in 2011 to build a four-storey hotel on the Fremantle harbour, alongside the Little Creatures brewery, but these plans were scuppered with the sale of the microbrewer to Japanese beverage giant Kirin last year.
"We thought we'd do one there and potentially do others but when the deal was done last year with Kirin, that site and those plans went with the deal," Mr Cearns said.
"I don't think they are interested in building a hotel so nothing's come of it; hence we went and looked at better opportunities."
Planning Minister John Day said the hotel would be another element in "the re-emergence of a mature Northbridge".
"It will revive a neglected 60-year-old heritage-listed building and make use of a vacant area to add a boutique hotel and restaurant to this popular precinct," Mr Day said in a statement.
"This area is now home to an eclectic mix of retailers, restaurants and bars and this development offer something new for Perth in terms of guest accommodation."
