The New Garema Place Hotel

There’s a new hotel being built in Garema Place. The Garema Place hotel development is on Bunda Street opposite the Canberra Centre. Here are all the details we have so far:

The New Garema Place Hotel Design

The Hotel will include 238 rooms as well as multiple restaurants and bars. There will be an indoor pool, a ballroom and three levels of below-ground car parking.

Along the Bunda Street side of the development will be retail space. This faces The Canberra Centre, so it makes sense to have shops along this street. The opposite side will face Garema Place and will feature cafes and restaurants with outdoor dining.

Who is Developing the Hotel?

The Hotel is being developed by TP Dynamics. They previously built the Dickson Place development (Coles building). They bought the site from Geocon. Geocon had planned to build the Hotel, but the plans never came to fruition, and they offloaded the site for $30 million.

How the Hotel Plans Changed

The original Geocon plans were opposed by a number of groups within the community, including the ACT Greens. The initial Geocon plans were of a taller 16-story building, and concerns were raised over Garema Place becoming overshadowed and cold.

The new design is for an 11-story building. TP Dynamics has decided to remove office space and add more hotel rooms instead. This makes much more sense as there is already a plethora of office buildings. The new plans also have much more parking. The original Geocon plans only had 40 car spaces with a “car stacker “ system. This is being removed and there will be 132 spaces.

The new plans also will include bicycle parking spaces.

The initial design also had a rooftop pool. TP-Dynamics has chosen to relocate the pool to level nine and add a central atrium. TP Dynamics has said a “world-class” restaurant will be on the top floor instead of a pool and offer views of the lake.

Who Will Operate the Hotel?

The hotel will be operated by Crystalbrook Collection. Crytalbrook Collection is a boutique Australian hotel group. They currently run hotels in Cairns, Brisbane, Byron Bay, Newscastle and Sydney.

When will the Hotel Be Built?

The current plan is for the hotel to be finished in early 2027. I'll update this post if that timeline looks likely to change.

What happened to Gus’ Place

Gus’ Place was a heritage-listed cafe located in the old building that is being demolished to make way for the new hotel. The building itself wasn’t heritage-listed. Instead, the cafe had an “intangible heritage” status. The developer has said they would like to incorporate the cafe back into the new Hotel.

Gus’s was the first cafe in Canberra to offer outdoor dining. It opened in 1969, and it was against the regulations at the time for people to sit outside in a cafe or restaurant. There is a plaque recognising historic nature on the pavement, and I’m sure the new design will incorporate the plaque.

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