Historic former Snows Department Store building in Melbourne facing the wrecking ball
The consortium of Malaysian developers who last year paid $23.8 million for one of the Melbourne CBD’s highest profile, historic buildings has applied to replace it with a 13-storey hotel.
The former Snows Department Store at 244-248 Flinders Street, at the southern edge of the Hoddle Grid, overlooking the Yarra River, is a six-level art deco building, developed in 1936 and refurbished in 1996, soon after not-for-profit group Yooralla bought it for $1.65 million.
Yooralla listed the asset for sale in late 2015, soon after moving out, promoting the “character” of the “substantial” 3391-square-metre building in a campaign managed by Savills.
Save for a lease affecting a small part of the building, it was offered largely vacant, and as such, attracted developer interest who – it was expected – would consider building in the airspace above and the leave the building intact.
Instead the 846-square-metre parcel was acquired by Moremas Land, which is financially backed by three investors from Selangor, Malaysia, who are seeking the demolition of the Snows Department Store for a predominantly glass building which will offer 215 one-bedroom hotel rooms.
The application also includes a guest dining room, six ground floor retail shops, a restaurant, gymnasium and meeting rooms.
The historic façade of the former Snows store will be replaced with a contemporary building with charcoal-coloured powder-coated doors and window frames and pre-cast cladding on the site boundary walls.
In its planning application, Moremas said “the proposal in this instance is informed by an acknowledged shortfall in short term accommodation, such as hotels and serviced apartments, in Melbourne’s CBD.
“The proposal in this instance will deliver a quality residential hotel in Melbourne CBD’s premier streets, surrounded by tourist sites, shopping and amenities”.
The property is one lot removed from the corner of Degraves Street, one of the city’s most famous café-themed laneways.
Historic building campaign group Melbourne Heritage Action is calling for the public to submit an objection to the proposal.
The group thinks 244-248 Flinders Street “is not only a good example of the widely admired art deco style, but is an essential element of the intact historic streetscape of this part of Flinders Street, which is part of the Flinders Gate heritage precinct”.
The height of Moremas Land’s proposed hotel is lower than the adjacent building at 238 Flinders Street.
Not far away, a 16-storey contemporary building is at 270 Flinders Street while a 17-level structure is next to that, at number 274.
Early last year local developer Caydon paid a reported $18 million for a 736 square metre block at the south-west corner of Flinders and Queen streets, for years occupied by clothing brand Fletcher Jones.
That site was flipped by a developer who paid $11 million at the end of 2012, then obtained a controversial permit for a 25-level hotel and apartment building, despite the fact it would cast a shadow of the Yarra River banks.
