City of Bunbury enters land deal to develop Lot 330 Ocean Drive into multi-storey hotel

Barnes Capital will invest $50 million to turn Lot 330 Ocean Drive in Bunbury into a hotel featuring a mix of food, beverage and retail options.

As one of previous Bunbury mayor Gary Brennan's "last orders of business", the land deal has reportedly been in the making for several months after the City of Bunbury sold the land in 2020 for $3.3 million.

New Bunbury mayor Jaysen De San Miguel said the new hotel would offer around five stories of accommodation on "potentially the best bit of land in Bunbury."

"The project is very exciting and hopefully will draw more people to Bunbury," mayor De San Miguel said.

"The hotel also has the potential to create a real precinct up here at the top end of Ocean Drive, and will hopefully be one of the things that will lead to continued development on our beach front."

Mayor De San Miguel said it was predicted that the project would inject more jobs into the region.

"This project will have a huge economic benefit during construction and afterwards in hospitality and other industries once the hotel is built within the next three years.

"There's still a lot of work to be done as the development plans have not been approved yet, but it's really exciting."

Barnes Capital development director Ari Nomikos said the company was delighted with the signing of the landmark project.

"We would like to thank the City of Bunbury, the mayor and councillors for allowing us the opportunity to be part of this new hotel and mixed use development," Mr Nomikos said.

"We look forward to working together with the City of Bunbury and the wider local community in order to achieve a favourable outcome for all."

Mayor De San Miguel confirmed the project would shortly go out for community consultation through the South West Development Commission so members of the community can have their say.