Public notification is underway for a luxury hotel proposed along a Sunshine Coast holiday strip.
The eight-storey building is earmarked to include 77 rooms, a rooftop pool area and ground-level cafe on a 635sqm site overlooking the water at Caloundra.
Marriott International has outlined its interest in managing and operating the development, which would be known as 5IVE Hotel Caloundra, at 31 Esplanade, Bulcock Beach.
The notification period comes as the Temporary Local Planning Instrument (TLPI), which is part of an incentives package designed to attract upscale accommodation, was recently approved with conditions.
More than 20 submissions have already been lodged with Sunshine Coast Council in response to the development.
Public sentiment, via the official submissions process as well as online platforms such as Facebook, appears divided on the development, and many of the concerns raised pertain to the height of the hotel.
According to the planning report submitted with the application in October 2024, the proposed development height is 27m.
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The council’s Height of Buildings and Structures Overlay Map outlines that the maximum building height in the Caloundra Major Centre Zone varies from 15-30m, with some key sites identified as having a height allowance for a hotel of up to 45m.
No.31 Esplanade is identified as having a height limit of 15m and is not on an identified key site of up to 45m.
The proposed TLPI would allow accommodation hotels an additional height allowance of three to seven metres, depending on the maximum height outlined for a site under the planning scheme.
However, a map released as part of the proposed TLPI for the Caloundra Local Plan Area shows the site of the 5IVE Hotel outside the current Major Centre Zone.
During the information response stage of the application, the council outlined to the applicant that the TLPI was not applicable to the Caloundra site, due to its location.
The council also noted that the 27m height was “in conflict” with the height overlay code, the Caloundra local plan code and the high-density residential zone code.
The council noted that for the development to be considered under the TLPI in terms of “other relevant matters”, it required hotel proposals to be “supported by a binding letter of intent from an internationally or nationally branded hotel operator”.
The original application included a letter of interest from Marriott International, however, it was not considered “a binding agreement to operate a hotel”.
The applicant’s reply to the information response stated: “Council has now sighted correspondence from Marriott International.”
Marriott International has been contacted for further comment, however, declined to provide a statement at this stage of the application process.
The public can have their say on the proposed development until April 7 here.
