Last drinks for heritage city pub under 33-storey student tower plan
EXCLUSIVE | The historic Duke of York Hotel will close and be turned into a café under a developer’s plan for a 33-storey tower with 570 international student beds. See the pictures
Development consultants Future Urban, on behalf of Victorian property developers TAL GP Projects, has lodged plans for a 33-storey student accommodation tower at 82-86 Currie Street, near the Sofitel Hotel in the western CBD.
The site is home to the Duke of York Hotel, a local heritage listed structure built in 1857 that is still a working pub.
Under the development plans, the hotel will no longer function as a pub and will be repurposed into a café available to both students and the public.
A render of the proposed international student development. Image: Telha Clarke ArchitectsThe 33-storey tower is slated for construction directly behind the hotel and will hold 450 units with 570 beds for international students.
The pub’s rear additions and beer garden will be demolished to make way for the tower, but the developer told InDaily that a “majority” of the Duke of York’s heritage-listed façade will be retained. This includes the street facing section of the pub, its eastern façade and a “portion” of its western side.
BEFORE:
The rear of the Duke of York Hotel. Photo: Thomas Kelsall/InDailyAFTER:
The new rear of the Duke of York Hotel under the development plans. Image: Telha Clarke ArchitectsCommunal spaces for students, including kitchens, laundry facilities, a gym and “various games and media rooms”, will be spread across the ground level, first floor and rooftop.
The land on Currie Street has no prescribed height limits, with the zoning intended to encourage high-intensity and large-scale development.
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The local heritage listed Duke of York Hotel. Photo: Thomas Kelsall/InDailyThe application also comes just after a months-long saga concluded over the future of the Crown & Anchor Hotel, which was threatened by a similar international student tower plan that would have preserved the building’s façade but ended the venue as a working pub.
The Malinauskas Government last month stepped in to preserve the future of the Crown and Anchor and also passed sweeping legislation to protect live music venues in the CBD.
But the government has also stressed its desire to see more student accommodation in the city amid the merger of the University of Adelaide and UniSA, which is projected to enrol an additional 6000 international students by 2034.
The upper levels of the proposed Duke of York development. Image: Telha Clarke Architects“We are seeing a significant demand for student accommodation nationally,” Kiss said.