A building housing Wollongong's F45 gym is set to be demolished to make way for a budget hotel and luxury apartments.
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Blaq Projects has lodged plans with Wollongong City Council to erect an 18-storey building at 24-30 Kenny Street that will house 68 residential units and a 78-room hotel.
The proposal, which has a development value of $33 million, also includes a cafe, a swimming pool, gym and basement level parking for 122 vehicles and has been designed by Robert Gizzi at Design Workshop Australia in Fairy Meadow.
The site is currently owned by Greenhill Aged Care boss and ex-Hawks chief executive Richard Clifford and his wife Debra, who have an agreement to sell it to Blaq if the development application gets the green light.
Blaq's director, Jared Beneru, said he was excited about the development and what it meant for Wollongong.
He said there was a "definite shortfall" in available tourism and visitor accomodation in the city and described many of the current hotel options as "a bit old and run down".
He said the hotel, which will operate as a 3-star facility, was aimed at the business market.
"Luxury accomodation isn't our target market here, more business and people coming down from Sydney for the weekend," Mr Beneru said.
While an operator for the hotel is yet to be announced, Mr Beneru but confirmed he was looking locally as well as interstate for the right team.
The successful group will manage and operate the hotel alongside Anya Solutions, which is headed by Blaq's chief financial officer, Sharmen Naidoo.
A proposed plan of management included with the development application documents said the hotel will employ up to 10 people, with 3-4 staff on site at any time.
"Electronic swipe access for will control guest movements throughout the hotel and to and from the site outside of the 8am to 6pm business hours," the plan said.
Meanwhile, Mr Beneru described the apartments as "Sydney luxury, with the affordability of Wollongong pricing".
He said two-bedroom units would have a starting price below $700,000.
"Because of COVID, people have realised working from home in Wollongong provides the amenity of living close to beach, with Sydney only an hour's drive north," he said.
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