Doma Plots $46m Nelson Bay Hotel-Homes Hybrid

Doma Group has filed a $46-million plan for a hotel-residential hybrid at Nelson Bay, expanding the Marina Resort just weeks after the property reopened from a major refurbishment.

The application covers 29-33 Magnus Street, where the 1980s hotel, about 200km north of the Sydney CBD, long dominated the 6644sq m site.

Works approved in 2024 replaced the pool, added landscaping and reconfigured rooms.

Interiors by Stella Collective repositioned the building as a 48-room boutique hotel with a 25m pool.

The fresh DA proposes two six-storey buildings designed by Stewart Architecture alongside the refurbished hotel, tied together by landscaped links.

One block would comprise 37 serviced apartments with lobby, reception and amenities plus a conference centre, kitchen and bar.

The other would deliver 37 residential apartments above a basement level.

▲ Stewart Architecture rendering of Doma Group’s $46-million Marina Resort expansion at Nelson Bay.

The site would also be split into two Torrens title lots, separating the residential tower from the hotel and serviced-apartment operations.

Two basements beneath the serviced building and another under the apartments would bring total parking to 167 spaces.

Planning documents said the project would “deliver a new vision while not losing the iconic nature of the existing resort and hotel”.

A visual impact report said it would provide “a scale and character of development that is consistent with that anticipated for this part of Nelson Bay”.

Led by managing director Jure Domazet, Doma has grown into one of Australia’s largest private developers with a $2-billion pipeline.

▲ The 1980s-built Marina Resort at Nelson Bay, recently refurbished into a 48-room hotel.

Its portfolio includes the Little National Hotels at Newcastle, Sydney and Canberra, along with residential and mixed-use projects at Kingston Foreshore in Canberra.

The group is also advancing one of Canberra’s most significant heritage redevelopments at the Old Canberra Brickworks, Yarralumla, where a 380-home precinct will be built around repurposed kilns and heritage-listed buildings.

Domazet said the vision was to curate a “mix of experiences and venues” to “create a vibrant precinct that honoured the site’s rich heritage while offering contemporary spaces for the community to connect, work and relax”.

▲ Rendering of Doma Group’s Brickworks precinct at Yarralumla.

Also in Canberra, Doma is preparing a concept masterplan for the former CSIRO headquarters, branded The Foothills, where density has been scaled back from 650 apartments to 132 townhouses and 104 apartments.

Domazet said that project would deliver resort-style amenities and green space “without the usual compromises and challenges” of dense urban living.

Meanwhile in Nelson Bay, MA Financial—owner of the d’Albora Marina—is consulting on a state-significant overhaul of the foreshore, flagged to deliver a 122-room hotel, retail and hospitality upgrades and new public boardwalks.