Chris Cheung has unveiled his revised plans for a $112 million redevelopment of the iconic Coogee Bay Hotel, adding residential apartments, an accommodation wing and a first class ‘eat street’.
Cheung’s C!nc first lodged plans with Randwick Council in 2021 for an upmarket transformation at the site, but its prominence prompted concerns from both local residents and council.
The group subsequently lodged an appeal through the Land & Environment Court, and permission was recently granted for amended plans to be filed for public exhibition, bringing Cheung one step closer to a long-held dream.
“A lot of people don’t realise, my acquisition of Coogee 31 years ago was purely as a development opportunity. It was never to run the hotel,” he says.
The opportunity hotelier took the plunge into the CBH in 1991, during ‘the recession we had to have’ and effectively had to learn hospitality to capitalise on the future. Since that time, he reports they have always respected the old girl’s heritage component, and have also acquired considerable property surrounding the pub and are naturally looking to its best use.
CBH recently celebrated 150 years serving the community, but while the beachside site was always going to find some form of redevelopment, Cheung notes he always intended for the pub to remain.
“We pay a lot of respect and homage to our history. Coogee is a beautiful and evolving precinct, but we need world class operators to provide the wider community better facilities than what we have at the moment.”
The plans submitted in 2021 incorporated 60 units over commercial premises and a supermarket, hotel accommodation, basement parking and a laneway, with new restaurants.
Key changes now include a height reduction of the development to 21 metres, a reconfiguration, removal of the supermarket and some of the basement parking, and greater retention of heritage building facades.
There would now be 58 new apartments over five storeys, with communal gardens and a swimming pool, three storeys of accommodation, new dining areas, and the ‘eat-street precinct’ boasting 11 new retail sites, with a public laneway through the complex, from Coogee Bay Rd to Arden St.
“In my time owning Coogee, I’ve always understood our role as a hotel and our role in the larger community,” notes Cheung.
“I’ve seen how Coogee has grown in the last 30 years … and it deserves better. Better amenities and facilities in the area.”
Plans for the Coogee Bay Hotel redevelopment are on exhibition with Randwick Council until 1 May.
