THE real estate agent hired to sell the Provincial Hotel is seeking expressions of interest of about $2.4 million for the historic building. Conway Commercial managing director John Conway said the building had not functioned as a hotel since about 2007. He said the building could be redeveloped into apartments or three to five star accommodation “subject to planning consent”.He believed the Global Financial Crisis had stopped the sale of the hotel from proceeding sooner.“Developers lost the opportunity to borrow to develop the complex,” he said.“There’s no doubt in our mind in due course it will be sold and it will probably go to auction in the next eight weeks.”The present hotel was rebuilt in 1909 but the preceding building dates back decades earlier.University of Ballarat history lecturer Anne Beggs Sunter said the ornate building had been described as “architecturally as flamboyant, which I think is a good description”.Mr Conway said the Provincial Hotel was equal to Craig’s Royal Hotel in importance to Ballarat’s history.The facade of the building is subject to heritage protection, Mr Conway said.He acknowledged the building needed to be “rehabilitated” but insisted it offered plenty of development potential.“It’s a big job but it’s a project of substance, we’re not building a small office block,” he said.
Provincial Hotel's $2.4m price tag
