A backpacker hostel has been approved for the heart of Maroochydore.
Sunshine Coast Council has given the go ahead for a 90-bed short-term accommodation development at 6 Ocean Street, allowing an existing commercial building to be repurposed into a hostel for travellers.
The development was originally lodged as an 87-bed proposal before being amended during the assessment process.
The application was lodged by Adams and Sparkes Town Planning on behalf of Mara Maroochydore Pty Ltd. ASIC records list the company’s director as Jai Roots, a co-founder of nearby Pulse Bar, while the land is owned by QACPF (QIC Australia Core Plus Fund) Big Top Pty Ltd.
Rather than constructing a new building, the project will adaptively reuse the existing two-storey premises in one of Maroochydore’s busiest dining and entertainment precincts.
The upper level will be converted into backpacker accommodation, while the ground floor will continue to house commercial tenancies and provide access to the hostel. The approval also includes facade improvements, a new street awning and an internal fit-out, without increasing the building’s footprint.
Plans show the hostel will include communal living and kitchen facilities, a gym, sauna, wellness pool, laundry, private rooms, accessible accommodation and a mix of shared dormitories.
Council’s approval limits the accommodation to tourists or travellers staying for no more than three consecutive months, ensuring the premises cannot be used as permanent residential accommodation.
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The approval comes with a range of conditions addressing traffic, parking, privacy and amenity.
Because the site cannot accommodate the number of guest parking spaces ordinarily required, council has conditioned the approval on the continued availability of nine guest parking spaces within the adjoining Big Top Shopping Centre.
If that parking agreement is revoked, the hostel use must cease. The development must also provide two on-site staff parking spaces, bicycle parking and a 24-hour courtesy shuttle bus to destinations including Sunshine Coast Airport, public transport stations and tourist attractions.
To protect neighbouring properties, additional privacy screening must be installed on the eastern communal balcony to partially obscure direct views into adjacent windows.
The decision also requires transparent shopfront glazing along the Ocean Street frontage to encourage passive surveillance, continuous weather protection via street awnings, security measures restricting guest access to private areas and acoustic treatments to minimise noise impacts. Live or amplified entertainment is prohibited.
The application was assessed under the Sunshine Coast Planning Scheme as a code-assessable development within the Principal Centre Zone. Council found the proposal complied with the relevant planning requirements, subject to conditions, and approved the development permit on May 29.
