Major student accommodation project in Hobart CBD gets underway

Work on the University of Tasmania’s major student accommodation project in the heart of the Hobart CBD will begin in earnest on Monday.

The complex, to include 430 apartments, a University shop front, retail space and a park-and-ride bike hub, will be located on the corner of Melville and Elizabeth streets, and behind existing heritage shops in Elizabeth Street, up to Brisbane Street.

Stage one, which is expected to take nine months and employ 80 people at a cost of $9.7 million, follows the completion of an archaeological survey on site. It will see building contractor Fairbrother demolish the Black Prince Hotel, the Brown and Banks Building and the Transit Centre over the next two months and then construct a three-level car park.

Demolition work is expected to have minimal impact on the site’s neighbours and the public. Prior to work commencing, Fairbrother briefed the site’s immediate neighbours to ensure the nearby business owners were fully informed about the nature of the work and the upcoming construction sequence.

The development is part of the National Rental Affordability Scheme (NRAS), which is a program jointly funded by the Australian and Tasmanian governments. It is designed by local firm Terroir and Melbourne’s Fender Katsalidis (the designers of MONA) and is due to be completed for occupation by semester 1 in 2017.
University of Tasmania, Communications and Media Office