Controversial Double Bay high rise hits the market in new twist to four-year saga
The former Ritz Carlton/Stamford Plaza hotel site in Double Bay is back on the block, with Kevin McCabe’s Scarborough Pacific Group listing the residential high-rise development prospect.
CBRE is marketing the Cross Street property following recent development approval for a complex with 78 apartments along with a 600-seat cinema complex with five screens.
Architects PTW designed the eight-storey U-shaped building, which will feature views over Sydney Harbour. The hotel closed in 2009.
Scarborough took over control of the project from the beleaguered Ashington group, which failed to get either Woollahra Council or state government approvals given heights concerns. The original proposal from Ashington was 14 storeys.
The last sale of the six-storey complex is unknown, but it has been reported the 2008 purchase by Ashington was $81.5 million.
It’s been reported that since its December 2011 development approval, Scarborough has been approached by a number of parties looking to acquire a stake, despite the number of floors being trimmed back, along with the profit margins, from nine floors to eight to secure approval.
The expressions-of-interest campaign could result in McCabe either selling the development or striking a partnership deal.
The development will reportedly have an end value of about $230 million.
McCabe has told Fairfax Media that demand for such a prized location, with full planning permission, was hardly surprising.
“Double Bay … is one of the jewels of Sydney’s exclusive eastern suburbs” and ranks as one of “Australia’s most densely populated areas”, he said.
