Lane Cove’s Royal Pacific Hotel Site One Step Closer to a 20 Storey Building Redevelopment

The Royal Pacific Hotel developer has revealed that they intend to transform the existing site into a 20-storey residential building fronting the Pacific Highway and a 7 Storey building at the rear.  The developer has noted:

“The apartments are located within a single built form, focusing built form mass adjacent the Pacific Highway and away from existing neighbouring sites.”

There will be 150 apartments made up of a mix of 1,2 and 3 apartments.

The Royal Pacific Hotel is located at 472-480 Pacific Highway, Lane Cove North.

The developer has submitted a request for a NSW Planning Secretary’s Environmental Assessment Requirements (SEARs). Once a SEARS is issued the developer must prepare an Environmental Impact Statement and undertake community consultation.

The property is currently zoned R4 High Density Residential.

State Significant Development Pathway

This development is a state significant development endorsed by the Housing Development Authority.

The NSW government established the Housing Development Authority to fast-track housing supply.  The HDA has the power to recommend projects that meet certain criteria be declared SSDs by the Minister for Planning.

This pathway allows major residential projects to bypass local council approval process.

The process is as follows:

Stage 1 – Expression of Interest

The applicant submits an Expression of Interest (EOI) online outlining the proposal and addressing the criteria.

Stage 2 – Planning Prepares A Report

The NSW Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure reviews the EOI and prepares a briefing to support the HDA’s evaluation.

Stage 3 – HDA evaluates

HDA evaluates the EOI against relevant criteria and provides advice and recommends to the Minister that the project could be declared as a state-significant project.

Stage 4 – Minister declares

The Minister reviews the HDA advice and declares the proposals to be state-significant development.  The Minister declared the Royal Pacific Hotel site a state-significant development on 9th September 2025.

Stage 5 – Applicant lodges request for SEARs

The Applicant requests the Secretary’s Environmental Assessment Requirements (SEARs). The SEARS issued to the developer requires the developer to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement and to undertake community consultation.

The development is currently at Stage 5.

Stage 6 Environmental Impact Statement (EIS)

Applicant lodges EIS with the Department (must be within 9 months of SEARs being issued).

Stage 7 Assessment and community consultation

The Department undertakes a merit assessment of the SSD/SSD with concurrent rezoning. This includes each of the legislated SSD steps, including public exhibition of SSD, and where applicable, concurrent rezoning detail approval.

Stage 8 Determination

The minister or delegate determines SSD and concurrent rezoning.

The NSW government has promoted the primary benefit of the SSD pathway as a significantly reduced assessment timeframe.

While the SSD pathway aims to expedite housing delivery, it is not without its critics.

Local councils and community groups frequently express concerns about the erosion of community input and the potential for a “one-size-fits-all” approach to development.

A project of this scale will raise questions about local infrastructure and traffic congestion on the Pacific Highway.

One issue that has been raised with ITC in the past is the noise from the air conditioning unit at the Royal Pacific Hotel; some residents may be relieved that they will no longer have to endure the noise from the air conditioning unit.

Royal Pacific Hotel Development History

Before being known as The Royal Pacific Hotel, it was previously branded as the Artarmon Inn or the Artarmon Motor Inn.  In 2003, a development application was lodged to convert the motel into studio apartments.  This development application was withdrawn.

The building is a seven-storey brick motel, and improvements include a swimming pool, bitumen car park, and concrete and bitumen driveways.  There are 64 guest rooms and one manager’s residence across the building’s seven storeys.  It was built in the 1960’s.

The Royal Pacific Hotel was listed for sale in late 2023.  The media release issued at the start of the sale process noted that the hotel has undergone a significant $1.31 million capital expenditure program, which included work on the rooms, corridors, back-of-house facilities and internal walling.

The media release also noted the site’s redevelopment potential.  The media release included:

“Given the property’s large landholding and locality, the asset also offers strong long-term redevelopment and repositioning potential. These outcomes may include the addition of approximately 36 guest rooms to the current inventory and the redevelopment into approximately 70–80 residential apartments, subject to relevant planning approvals.

The scale and strategic nature of this asset, coupled with Sydney’s continued hotel and tourism market recovery, is expected to generate significant investor interest from a variety of both domestic and international capital sources.”

While the SSD pathway aims to expedite housing delivery, it is not without its critics.

Local councils and community groups frequently express concerns about the erosion of community input and the potential for a “one-size-fits-all” approach to development.

A project of this scale will raise questions about local infrastructure and traffic congestion on the Pacific Highway.  One issue that has been raised with ITC in the past is the noise from the air conditioning unit at the Royal Pacific Hotel; some residents may be relieved that they will no longer have to endure the noise from the air conditioning unit.