Aurora owners fear swarms of tourists

Published: 12 May 2008.

By Shannon Molloy for Brisbane Times

After hearing news Brisbane's tallest building Aurora Towers could be turned into a hotel, some apartment owners are concerned they will soon have to put up with a swarm of tourists.

Owner-occupier Mitchell Bourke purchased his apartment a year ago and fears what lies ahead, after short-term accommodation provider the Oaks Group recently acquired the building's management rights.

The company has lodged an application with Brisbane City Council to turn the high-rise into a class-three building - or short-term accommodation provider - and has already began advertising Oaks Aurora Hotel with booking websites.

News was broken to apartment owners by the body corporate in the form of a letter about two weeks ago, which simply said the current management would be gone within a month.

Tenants and owners are yet to hear anything from the Oaks Group.

After buying an apartment in a residential building, Mr Bourke is angry many properties could now be converted to hotel suites.

The 21-year-old, who works in the residential development industry, believes a revolving door of hotel guests would quickly change the dynamic of the building.

In addition, existing problems with a lack of car parks, congestion and public amenities would likely worsen.

"I don't particularly want it to turn into a hotel," Mr Bourke said.

"The building will be generally a lot busier with people coming and going, using the pool and other amenities."

Excessive noise and over-crowding in public areas could also soon become a reality.

And past experiences with another short-term accommodation provider inter-state only add to his concern.

"I have a friend who lives in a building in Sydney that offers short-term and residential accommodation," he said.

"I went there and found the attitude towards owners from management wasn't very good - they seem to be there to help out the hotel guests.

"They don't really make any money from the owner-occupiers, so they didn't seem to care about them."

Another apartment owner, who asked he not be named, told brisbanetimes.com.au he was also concerned about the consequences of short-term accommodation.

He said after talking to other owners in the building, Oaks would have to offer a range of incentives to convert people to the "dark side".

But Mr Bourke is not convinced and fears costs associated with converting the building to accommodate hotel guests might leave him out of pocket, even though he doesn't rent out his apartment.

"I have been told it would cost a lot of money to meet fire regulations, and that alterations would have to be done to the majority of apartments," he said.

He fears the cost of such an exercise could be passed on to owners through body corporate fees - which doubled last year, making any additional charges hard to swallow, he said.

While he wants to continue living at Aurora, Mr Bourke said it now depended on what happens next.

But he is confident of one thing - he would never sign up for the Oaks short-term accommodation offer.

Body corporate is due to discuss the issue of short-term accommodation at the annual general meeting later this year, but Mr Bourke isn't hopeful of a resolution.

"I don't think they really have any say when it comes to management rights anyway."

The Oaks Group declined to comment about its acquisition of Aurora Tower, as it was yet to file notice with the Australian Stock Exchange.

The company also declined to provide details about its fee structure for managing short-term accommodation properties.