Lansdowne pub owners call last drinks in frothy market

But the pub fell victim to Sydney’s lockout laws in 2015 that saw patrons unable to enter venues after 1.30am. It reopened two years later when the team behind Newtown’s Mary’s Burgers took over the reins.

In February 2022, the pub closed again as the Mary’s team called last drinks. In March this year the doors were flung open yet again, when the owners of the Oxford Art Factory stepped in. The pub, which has been around for over 80 years, now boasts a new retro-inspired rooftop, a New York deli-style menu and a late-night free music program.

The four-level hotel has a 1900 square metre footprint with a 5am liquor licence with rare first-floor extended trading approval, and capacity for 480 patrons at any given time.

The private syndicate owners of the building have appointed HTL Property’s Andrew Jolliffe, Sam Handy and Blake Edwards, with IB Property’s Steffan Ippolito & James Campbell to sell the site.

Handy said the pub sits at the gateway to Sydney’s burgeoning southern CBD and Chinatown and is surrounded by some of the city’s largest mixed-use urban renewal redevelopments – including Frasers $2 billion Central Park precinct and the adjacent Broadway Shopping Centre, RPA Hospital and UTS.

“While institutionally popular as a live entertainment venue, the unmistakable scale of The Lansdowne Hotel lends itself favourably to the further and regular activation of multiple other levels,” Handy said.

“In terms of its location, trading footprint and patron capacity, the business presents as a compelling opportunity to activate a food and beverage proposition that better resonates with the surrounding demographic.”

Other pub barons have also identified the area for growth potential such as Solotel’s Marlborough, the billionaire Laundy family’s Off Broadway Hotel, and former Wallaby Bill Young’s Bar Broadway.

The hotel has planning approvals, which the sales agents said will appeal to both property investors and developers seeking a foothold in the southern end of the city.

“The size of the site with the floor plates of the building and the planning approvals mean that the Lansdowne Hotel presents with some very obvious alternative-use options,” Ippolito said.

“We expect that it will attract interest from astute investors interested in repurposing the building for commercial, retail and accommodation purposes.”

The sale of the Landsdowne comes at a time when pubs are continuing to drive action in the commercial property sector. More than $2 billion worth of pub properties have changed hands in the past year.