Druids House on Pitt Street set to become 15 storey Sydney hotel
Druids House, the office block at 302 Pitt Street, is set to become a hotel.
It follows its late 2013 purchase by Melbourne property developer brothers, Dean and Jonty Rzechta for around $10 million.
It had previously traded in 2004 for $5 million to G Capital Holdings, associated with Bill Gertos, when offloaded by the Grand Lodge of the United Ancient Order of Druids.
The application before Sydney City Council is for the adaptive re-use as 136 room hotel.
The application seeks a 10 storey addition to the six storey 1909 building set on 520 square metres between Bathurst and Liverpool Streets.
A 500mm setback is proposed to levels six, seven and eight then levels 9-15 will be setback six metres from the street frontage.
There had previously been off the plan marketing of residential units with prices from $425,000 for studio apartments, for a 10 months period beginning late 2010 that accompanied plans for a 17 storey apartment block.
It was marketed as an "extremely rare developer release, pre-DA opportunity."
There is no heritage listing with the Lodge Room on level four the only strong reminder of the Druids’ occupation of the building. It is proposed to be removed, but there will be retention of the façade and windows, most of which date from 1927.
Druids House was built as a five-storey 1909 factory for the Welsbach Light Company, known then as Welsbach House.
The Welsbach Lighting Company which was founded by Carl Auer von Welsbach, a chemist who is famous for inventing the gas mantle and the metal filament for light bulbs.
It was a fully-equipped factory in Sydney owned by the company, which had until then been operating in Australia by carrying out various stages of its manufacturing in England. But having German origins, the company was declared an enemy in 1914 and its occupation of the building ended.
In 1927, 302 Pitt Street was altered for use by its new owners, the United Ancient Order of Druids, a fraternal society founded in London in 1781.The Australian contingent of Druids had been active since the 1850s and another Druids House was established in Melbourne in 1927 at 407 Swanston Street.
At the time of the 1928 opening ceremony, the United Ancient Order of Druids had approximately 240,500 members and was playing an active role as a Friendly Society in Sydney.
Druids House in Sydney was opened in 1928, with the Sydney Morning Herald reporting that the opening ceremony was attended by the assistant treasurer, Mr S. Stevens.
The plans have been prepared by Scott Carver with an estimated $22 million cost for the company, Ninety Four Street.
The last plans date back to 2011 when a 17 storey residential building was approved, then in 1997 when Peter Skerrett held an option to buy 302 Pitt Street with residential prospects.
The current plans are likely to attract opposition from residents of the neighbouring Princeton complex.