Infrastructure stories

Developer Vos Group has placed the landmark waterfront hotel MACq 01 on the market with a $60 million price tag. The shed-style building, which includes the Federal Group's hotel and six prime retail tenancies, opened six months ago. The selling agent, JLL Hotels & Hospitality Group, has conducted a roadshow through Asia and said the offering was well-received by potential investors. A spokesperson, Peter Harper, told The Mercury: “People understand the dynamics of the Tasmanian economy now and are quite bullish about the long-term outlook off the back of inbound tourism and marketing.” MACq 01 is one of Australia’s newest 4.5-star luxury hotels with few peers nationwide. Mr Harper said traditional investors and new entrants to the market would be drawn to the asset’s attributes and secure income profile based on a long-term lease to Federal Group and other quality tenancies. Vos is in the final stages of marketing the last remaining commercial tenancy in Macquarie Wharf 01, a 379 sq m site with expansive water frontage. Director, Darren Vos, said the sale of MACq 01 would allow his company to focus on other property-development projects. The asking price of $60 million would comfortably exceed the previous record for a commercial property in Hobart.

8 March 2018, Edition 192

Flinders Island has switched on a $13.38 million wind and solar hub which will supply on average 60 per cent of the island's power. Renewable supply could rise to 100 per cent when the weather is right. The picturesque island at the eastern end of Bass Strait is home to about 800 people who have previously depended on shipped-in diesel for power. The new hub uses sophisticated controls to manage a fluctuating mix of wind, solar and diesel power and is likely to be replicated in other remote Australian communities. The project was predominantly funded by Hydro Tasmania, with a $5.5 million contribution from the Federal Government's independent Australian Renewable Energy Agency. Similar hybrid technology has been installed on Tasmania's King Island, at Coober Pedy in South Australia, on Rottnest Island in Western Australia and at several smaller off-the-grid communities in the Northern Territory, but Flinders Island's system is the only one to have been built in shipping containers which were then taken to the island before being "plugged-in" to one another. There are plans to add tidal power to the Flinders Island mix over coming years and Hydro Tasmania's CEO, Steve Davy, said there was international interest in the project.

8 February 2018, Edition 191