Private company Heytesbury has cleared its first hurdle in an $8.5 million plan to modernise and expand the heritage-listed Margaret River Hotel, receiving the backing of the local council.
Private company Heytesbury has cleared its first hurdle in an $8.5 million plan to modernise and expand the heritage-listed Margaret River Hotel, receiving the backing of the local council.
Margaret River Hotel Holdings, a subsidiary of the Holmes à Court family company, has partnered with architectural firm spaceagency to reinvigorate the landmark, which sits on a 3,037 square metre site on Bussell Highway.
According to the development application, the company plans to restore the 1930s hotel to its original ground floor layout and construct a new two-storey, 17-bedroom wing covered in recycled, weathered jarrah cladding on the eastern side of the existing building.
The expansion will bring the total number of hotel rooms at the site to 30, with a new outdoor courtyard garden room and a bar servery area also set to be added.
Margaret River Hotel Holdings also intends to remove the existing drive-through bottle shop and convert it into a storage yard.
The plan has already received the backing of the Shire of Augusta-Margaret River council, which has recommended the application be approved by the Regional Joint Development Assessment Panel when it meets later this month.
According to the application, Margaret River Hotel Holdings hopes to begin construction later this year and complete the expansion by mid 2023, subject to obtaining all necessary approvals.
The council’s backing of the restoration plan comes 18 months after the Heytesbury subsidiary purchased the property for $4.84 million.
The hotel is now one of several assets owned by the Heytesbury Group, which owns and operates four vineyards in the Margaret River region, including Vasse Felix, and several pastoral stations.
Heytesbury, which was established almost 100 years ago, has a portfolio of assets worth more than $570 million and 170 employees.
The business is currently spearheaded by Paul Holmes à Court and is famously part of the Robert Holmes à Court empire.
