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Nearly 30 staff at a prominent Hobart hotel will be out of a job, following a sale made to the University of Tasmania (UTAS) in a bid to house next year's students.
- Fountainside Hotel sold for university housing
- Hotel delays telling 30 staff before Christmas
- Fit-out to be completed before first semester
The 50-room Fountainside Hotel entered negotiations with UTAS at the end of November and finalised the sale last week.
Head of the hotel's company, Tony Giacon, says he held off going public with the deal until staff had been told on Thursday morning.
"The thing we were most worried about during this last four weeks was that our staff didn't find out before Christmas," he said.
"The last thing we wanted to do was sit down on Christmas Eve with our staff and say that their jobs wouldn't be here."
Most of the staff are casual and not entitled to redundancies, but Mr Giacon says no-one will be leaving without some payment.
"There's no staff member that will leave here without some form of redundancy payment."
Staff will continue working at the hotel until UTAS takes possession on February 12.
University spokesman Jason Purdie said the purchase is part of a plan to deliver 300 new student beds in Hobart for 2019.
"The Fountainside will be fitted out over the break and will house almost 100 students," he said.
Mr Purdie said the former MidCity Hotel and Theatre Royal Hotel, other recent inner-city acquisitions, will help ease pressure on booming student housing demands.
Earlier this month, UTAS was forced to retract a "queue jump" offer to foreign students to secure accommodation ahead of others.
The Tourism Industry Council of Tasmania has criticised the university's approach to CBD housing expansion, saying it puts tourism accommodation at risk.
The council said it was not ideal to see jobs cut during the state's peak tourism season.
Topics: university-and-further-education, tourism, hobart-7000, launceston-7250
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