Developer Riverlee and Mona's Darklab collaborate on new Hobart cultural precinct
A new late-night food and entertainment venue in Hobart, the result of a collaboration between one of Tasmania’s leading art institutions and a Melbourne developer that also saved the landmark Odeon Theatre from destruction, has officially launched in time for the city’s annual Dark Mofo festival.
Developer Riverlee and the Museum of Old and New Art’s subsidiary for creative projects, DarkLab, have partnered to transform the Odeon Theatre and former Tattersalls Hotel, located in the Hobart CBD, into a new $5 million entertainment precinct known as “In the Hanging Garden” – the first stage in a mixed-use development that will see an entire Hobart city block revitalised.
Designed by architects Fender Katsalidis, the precinct incorporates outdoor dining and a beer garden, with rotating pop-up kitchens manned by local vendors.
Entertainment is taken care of by Altar bar, a live-music venue on the ground floor of the former Tattersalls Hotel, and the Odeon Theatre, which has been retained as a performance venue after years of uncertainty surrounding its fate.
High Altar, a nightclub on the first floor of the hotel, is set to open from September and the precinct will also host a 24-hour cafe, Pilgrim’s Progress.
The launch is just the latest development for the Odeon Theatre, which has had a long and varied history since it was constructed in 1916.
Believed to have been based on the Strand Theatre in New York, the building has previously hosted a 1100-seat movie theatre, a church and an ABC concert hall where the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra played.
After being purchased by Riverlee in 2009 it faced an uncertain future, with Hobart City Council granting the developer permission to knock down part of the structure as long as the heritage facade was retained. But Riverlee opted to retain the site as a performance venue instead.
DarkLab director Leigh Carmichael said the Odeon Theatre was originally earmarked for apartments and that the creation of In the Hanging Garden had come about in an organic way.
“The area owned by Riverlee already included the Odeon Theatre and the Tatts Hotel and by adding some food vendors, a pop-up market and an outdoor event space, we subconsciously created a precinct, right in the heart of Hobart,” he said.
Future stages of the development will see Riverlee transform close to 7000 square metres of the Hobart CBD, in a mixture of residential, commercial and hotel facilities, with the developer anticipating that more than $200 million of capital will be invested.
Riverlee development director David Lee said the opening of In the Hanging Garden marked the culmination of a years-long strategy.
“We’ve been a major investor in Tasmania since 2000, strategically and patiently acquiring the host of sites over 11 transactions across a 14-year period; never did we imagine that all of this would eventually lead to an amazing and unique partnership with Mona and DarkLab.”
DarkLab was founded by David Walsh, the owner of the Mona, in 2016. In addition to producing the Dark Mofo festival, it engages with collaborators on cultural and commercial developments in Australia and overseas and operates a number of venues in the Hobart CBD.
In the Hanging Garden was opened just in time for Dark Mofo, which is now in its seventh year. When the festival concludes, In the Hanging Garden will be programmed and operated by DarkLab.
