Expressions of interest sought for proposed boutique hotel in Bruce

A boutique hotel that will be built in Bruce to service the huge volume of visitors to local institutions is now on the market.

The four-star hotel will be close to key facilities including the Australian Institute of Sport, Canberra Stadium, Calvary Hospital and Canberra University. 

Building could begin as early as December, on the corner of Braybrooke Street and Ginninderra Drive, along with a new residential complex, the Malmo apartments.

The proposed hotel has six levels including reception and restaurant spaces, four levels of hotel rooms and a roof-top function space. A basement car park would be able to hold 70 vehicles.

Laing+Simmons Commercial spokesman Christ Antos says the proposed hotel would provide a welcome addition to the area for thousands of people who wanted to stay close to any of the landmark facilities.

“We conducted an in-depth study to quantify the need for hotel accommodation and the results proved a compelling case for construction,” he says. 

“It would have been understandable to have gone for more apartments, but Bruce is well-serviced for those. A hotel represents a really sound and exciting new business opportunity.

“The nearest accommodation option, currently, is serviced apartments in Belconnen or a variety of CBD hotels,” Antos says.

The Laing+Simmons spokesman says the new hotel design  has 56 rooms, but the operator could have input into the final configuration.

The Malmo residential apartments will also be built on the same 3161 square metre block and will include retail spaces.

“The inclusion of retail is going to be well received by visitors and local residents who only have very limited local offerings,” Antos says.

“We’re now inviting expressions of interest from experienced companies who may be interested in either operating the hotel with input into the design or leasing the cold shell and fitting it out themselves,” he says.

The other option would be to buy the hotel with or without a fitout.

Antos says the broader ACT region held the potential for an expansion of hotels beyond the CBD.

“Wherever you have local attractions or facilities that draw large volumes of traffic, then there is the potential need for accommodation to increase the convenience of visitor experience,” he says.

“The need for hotels is an indicator of the strength of the economy and the growth of tourism.”

Expressions of interest on the hotel site at 39 Braybrooke Street, Bruce, close at 4pm on November 2.