$2.56m building works green-lit for Verner St motel on St Pat's site

The project will be a complete makeover for the former St Patrick's Primary School and playground.

It will also be an adaptive reuse of a historic building, as the old hall will become the reception area of a 39-room motel, as well as a breakfast room and function centre.

The motel will be accessed from Verner St, while an additional seven residential units on the old playground will be accessed from Cartwright Place.

The plans were approved at the council's February 2 ordinary meeting.

Local developer Robert Rampton was excited about restoring the old St Pat's hall, constructed between 1913 and 1915.

Mr Rampton said that building would begin as soon as the council issued a construction certificate for the work.

"It has been on hold quite a while as we have been to-ing and fro-ing with council," Mr Rampton said. "It is great that it has been approved. We are now just waiting for council to issue a construction certificate. This could take up to three to four weeks and we are keen to start building the villas [units] as soon as possible after we have that.

"Following that, the motel will take at least 12 months to build and we are not planning to do anything above the breakfast room at this stage. It is an old building and it is hard to do anything up there."

Mr Rampton has previously told the Post there was a market for more motel and residential accommodation close to the CBD.

"It will have a nice frontage that's sympathetic to the Cathedral and the precinct. We want it to fit in," he said.

Mr Rampton and his partners bought the site from the Catholic Church in 2013. The current development application has been before the council for eight months.

The project involves $2.56 million in building works, but the investment is understood to be worth much more.

St Patrick's Primary School closed in 1998 and merged with Sts Peter and Paul's Primary in Knox St.