Hotel proposed for Equity Chambers

The historic Equity Chambers building on Bourke St will now be redeveloped into a hotel instead of a residential apartment building. 

Developer Williamson Properties originally proposed the controversial redevelopment of Equity Chambers into a 17-storey tower in 2008 and amended the proposal in 2010 to include more apartments.

The latest amendment application was submitted to the City of Melbourne in November and proposed to turn the building into a 250-room “mid-upper scale” hotel.

In the application the developer states the amended plans would “integrate and showcase the heritage features of Equity Chambers”.

Built in the 1930s, Equity Chambers sits on the site of Melbourne’s first synagogue at 472 Bourke St and was the office of lawyers such as Sir Eugene Pat Gorman.

The new proposed building still sits at 17 storeys and will retain Equity Chambers’ façade. The rear section will be demolished and the current roof will be turned into a podium.

The internal structure of the current four-storey building will be altered to form a hotel lobby, restaurant and bar and function facilities.