[APP] Hotel Wright Street | 68m |18 Levels | Mixed Use

[Ben]

Sound like it might be built speculatively.

18-storey tower to be built over Hotel Wright St in Adelaide CBD
Eugene Boisvert, The City
December 6, 2017 11:51pm

A NEW 18-storey building towering over the Hotel Wright St will complement the historic pub, its architects say.

The $57 million development known as 88 Wright St was approved by the State Commission Assessment Panel last month.

It will wrap around the 165-year-old heritage hotel with an atrium separating the two buildings.

A rooftop bar will be built as a third floor for the pub.

There will be a shop on the ground floor, then 15 storeys of offices and then two penthouse apartments for the owners.

The owners, a group of private Chinese investors, bought the property in 2015 and closed the pub – previously known as the Old Queens Arms Hotel – the following year.

Val Mohyla, Josh Carrabs and Ben Whittaker, of Mohyla Architects, designed the new building. The atrium will connect Wright and Compton streets and provide a sheltered communal area in a part of the city with very little public space. “We wanted to provide as our contribution to our city that walk-through, which celebrates the hotel in three dimensions,” Mr Whittaker said.

Buildings as tall as 88 Wright St – at 68m – were not allowed in the area until May.

Mr Mohyla said it would “lift the whole area”. “As it fills – and it will take a while to fill – it will create quite a large population on Wright St,” he said.

They expect law firms to be the largest lessees, with several large firms’ leases coming up for renewal in two to three years’ time, when the building is expected to be completed.

Automated blinds that track the sun will be built into the tower’s windows to reduce the need for airconditioning.

[Champs84]

Hi All,

At the risk of being severely lambasted for digging up an old thread for no reason - I was walking past this site today and noticed demolition was well underway. Not sure if it's to do with Hotel Indigo - the sign on the fence did say Hindmarsh which I know are taking care of Indigo. But anyway - here's a pic to prove that there has been demolition right through to Compton St. That bulldozer is in what was (until recently) a private carpark behind Barton Chambers on the corner of Wright and Market St. The partially destroyed brick wall was the boundary of that carpark and the beginning of the what I believe was the structure owned by the hotel. The other pic is a screen shot from maps showing the one story building next to the old hotel that has been completely gutted. Hope this means something! Sorry again if I've posted in the wrong place

[rev]

I wouldn't say posting pictures of demolition on a development site is digging up an old thread for no reason.

[Ben]

Thanks for that, not sure what it could be for, but could be promising.

[timtam20292]

Champs is right, the demolition comes right up to Compton Street.

[baytram366]

I've been working down the south end of town for over a year and walked past that hotel about once a week at least. Signs in the windows say its closed for renovations so I am guessing they are keeping the actual hotel building but building something around it. Could be interesting...

[Llessur2002]

I think this is still the plan...

Wright Developments SA Pty Ltd C/- Mohyla Architects
76-88 Wright Street, Adelaide

Construction of an 18-storey building with basement car parking comprising the retention and reuse of the former Hotel Wright Street as a Hotel at ground and first floors with atrium and roof tip terrace licensed as part of the Hotel use; retail tenancy at ground floor; fifteen (15) levels of offices; and two (2) storey penthouses occupying levels 16 and 17.

https://www.saplanningcommission.sa.gov ... rt.doc.pdf

Wright St Hotel 2.png

[Ben]

The site has been completely cleared now.

[GrowAdelaide]

Action on site. Market Street project in background

[Champs84]

Action on site. Market Street project in background

I walk past every other day, and I hate to Johnny Raincloud, but I'm not convinced that those aren't just materials for Hotel Indigo...

[Sensation.Al]

Who'sthe possible builder for this? Or is this out for tender already?

[SRW]

ABC is reporting the old pub has been 'extensively damaged' from a suspected deliberately lit fire. I hope it's not a prelude to demolishing it. There's no reason it should have been allowed to sit vacant for so long either, similar to the Newmarket.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-03-21 ... /100925722

[[Shuz]]

Hmmm, that's "oddly convinient". Insurance payout, lines developers pocket, new DA lodged, demolish and build. They didn't want the pub there anyway.

[SRW]

To be clear, I'm not engaging in any conspiracy. It's just past time we forced developers to stop letting prime lots rot. I don't know what the solution is -- perhaps a vacancy tax or compulsory participation in something like Renew Adelaide -- but, in my opinion, the problem is dragging the city down and risking safety. Other spots that spring to mind include Gawler Chambers, the old Trims on KWS and the former restaurant on the corner of Light Square.

[Llessur2002]

I'm amazed the Squatters Arms at Thebarton hasn't suffered a similar fate yet. It was boarded up a few weeks ago but it has essentially sat open and unsecured for the last decade before that.