The Gorge Hotel won't be up and running for at least three years

After last week's extensive council meeting over the development, it was approved by City of Launceston council and developers JAC Group are now moving forward.

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Managing director Dean Cocker said over the next several months the group will be meeting and negotiating with various international hotel operators who have shown interest in the project.

"It may take up to a year to select an operator and finalise the detailed engineering design and building approval," he said.

"Once the building application is approved it would then take at least two years to build the hotel and associated bars, restaurants, function areas and gym.

"So, it will take at least three years before the hotel opens to the public. By that time, the pandemic and any talk of recession is likely to be well behind us."

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The economic impact statement from the development application found here is likely to be around 300 jobs over two years during construction and 280 direct and indirect jobs ongoing after the hotel opens.

Launceston Chamber of Commerce executive officer Will Cassidy said the hotel would "solve a lot of challenges" Launceston was currently facing.

Mr Cassidy said one major benefit of the hotel design was the large function room.

"We know that Launceston is missing out on large conferences every year. Because we just don't have the infrastructure for large conferences," he said.

"The thing about conferences and business events is the statistics of people who return for tourism purposes is extremely high."

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Modelling shows by 2024-25 Launceston will run out of hotel rooms, Mr Cassidy said.

"It is vital that we have enough rooms to support the tourists who come to stay."

Mr Cassidy said given Launceston acts as "a gateway to the rest of the state", it was important to have the infrastructure to "ensure that people stay here not just arrive here and leave."

Key criticisms over the build was the design aspect and height of the hotel - which was initially knocked back at a tribunal due to height after council approved, this decision was then overruled by the Tasmanian Planning Authority.

"I understand that some people don't like contemporary architecture and buildings up to 39 metres high like the Silos and Myer building. But Launceston is made up of architecture from every decade over the last two hundred years," Mr Cocker said.

"The Murray Building in Paterson Street is over 30 metres high and it was built 112 years ago. If the naysayers had their way back in the 1950s then the 67 metre high Sydney Opera House would never have been built."

"Launceston does not have any significant buildings featuring a glass curtain facade. I'm sure this building with its unique tessellated glass waterfall will be admired in the decades and centuries to come as an example of 2020s architecture."

Mr Cassidy said given the location of the hotel, he understood the feedback from some of the community, saying Launceston residents get quite "passionate" about the Gorge.

"The chamber has a firm position that when it comes to building heights, it's not about the height it's about the how well designed the building is. And while this design is different, we think that eventually it will becoming an exciting part of the Launceston sort of streetscape."

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Launceston Central City chief officer Amanda McEvoy said they also welcomed the news of The Gorge Hotel being approved by council.

"Further building our reputation as one of Australia's top regional tourist destinations, it is wonderful to have another showcase accommodation option to build capacity and tie in with our growing reputation for quality experiences in food, drink, gastronomy, nature and the arts," she said.

There are no changes planned for the design at this stage.

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