Melbourne pub with a long and colourful history set to sell for about $4 million

Originally called the Freemason’s Hotel, the watering hole’s rich history includes the 1973 murder of the now dissolved Federated Ship Painters and Dockers Union secretary Pat Shannon, who was 45 and drinking in the pub at the time, then known as the Druids Hotel.

Another powerful union and underworld figure Billy “the Texan” Longley, Australia’s most wanted man in the 1970s, served 13 years for ordering the murder of Shannon, a job which police alleged cost $6000.

The two-storey pub has been fully refurbished. Photo: Supplied

The hotel was then bought by a group of solicitors, who renamed it the Splash Club, after their Friday night drinks there in the early 1980s.

The 513-square-metre venue was relaunched with its current name in 1991 and since then has been renovated to include a rooftop deck and function rooms. It was one of the first hotels in South Melbourne to introduce outdoor seating.

The pub has a rooftop terrace. Photo: Supplied

The two-storey building earns a short-term net rental income of approximately $100,000 a year.

The location and mixed-use zoning of the property is expected to be appealing to developers and investors, CBRE sales agent Will Connolly said.

“South Melbourne (is) currently experiencing a major shortage of mixed-use commercial properties with significant rental upside,” he said.

The mixed-use zoning allows multiple residential units to be developed on the site, subject to planning approval.

The gentrification of the area, 2.5 kilometres south of the CBD, would be appealing for buyers, co-agent Tim Last said.

“South Melbourne has become one of Melbourne’s most desirable suburbs over the past five years, with a significant uplift in investor and developer demand for well-located, mixed-use assets,” he said, adding that he expects demand to come from both local and offshore buyers.

CBRE’s Justin Dowers and Burgess Rawson’s Terry Board and Nicholas Breheny are also handling the sale.