Morry Schwartz selling former British Crown Hotel on 'village-like' Smith Street

However, Schwartz set his sights on another Collingwood location and the two-storey building at 14-16 Smith Street became superfluous to his needs.

Having bought it in 2019 for a reported $5.665 million, he is selling it for $4.5 million to $5 million with vacant possession as a cold shell. 

“I bought the British Crown Hotel for its excellent location – on the most village-like section of Smith Street, between Langridge Street and Victoria Parade,” Schwartz says.

“My intention was to build an eight-level office building to house my publishing operations. 

“I couldn’t secure a permit to match my needs, so I sought a low-rise luxury residential permit, with which I was successful. While it’s an excellent design by Denton Corker Marshall, it’s one for a high-end residential developer. I’m concentrating on office buildings, given today’s buyers’ market.”

Schwartz Media, now located in Northumberland Street, Collingwood, publishes The Monthly, The Saturday Paper and a podcast called 7am, among other publications.

The property, used as an artist’s studio for a while under Schwartz’s ownership, has been vacant for many years since ceasing operations as a pub around a decade ago, but Schwartz hopes it will be revived as a pub.

“Besides the residential development possibility, the location and size of the property make it ideal for its original use – as a new-build major pub constructed behind the heritage facade,” he says.

Once painted red, it has been freshly painted in a gorgeous two-toned blue hue. Exposed brick walls and timber ceilings provide character inside. 

Not even a week into the sale campaign, listing agent Daniel Wolman of Cushman & Wakefield has received a load of interest.

“It’s got a stronger response than most other properties,” he says. “It’s a blank canvas.”

New owners interested in creating a hospitality powerhouse can take advantage of a rare 1am liquor license to host up to 449 patrons in an area famed for its grungy vibe, award-winning restaurants and bars.

There are several entry points to the block with convenient side access and a “rear light-filled courtyard for pub patrons or car parking”.

Wolman said many hospitality groups and developers had been drawn to the site’s prime location just 160 metres from Gertrude Street’s hospitality strip, near thirsty students at Australian Catholic University, and about a kilometre east of Parliament station. 

“They’re sending off the plans to some of their architects and builders … to see what they can do with it … to see how much they can maximise it,” Wolman said. 

With flexible Commercial 1 zoning, the site lends itself to a range of uses, including hospitality, retail, office and mixed use.

“I think it’s the perfect price point to hit multiple users,” Wolman says.

The British Crown Hotel, which operated as a watering hole from 1860 to around 2017, was run by the Roberts family for 74 years from the early 1900s.

Publican Catherine Roberts juggled the running of the bustling venue with the care of her sister’s five orphaned children, according to the Collingwood Historical Society.

The society’s website showcases a written statement by one of the children about their life growing up at the pub:

“When my mother died, Auntie brought the five of us up. We lived above the hotel and boarded at Star of the Sea. The pub was a tiny little place then. We built on as the years went by. Aunty was a wonderful woman, one of those people everyone admired. She kept us kids out of the bar … we used to peep around the door to see what was going on. Everyone called her Aunt – it was known as Aunt’s hotel and after her death as Jack’s hotel. She was very regal. She’d tap on the counter and say, “Come on now boys, you go home.” I don’t remember Collingwood being a tough place. This block in Smith Street was really lovely then … it was a real community. Everyone knew each other. Smith Street used to be so busy, you couldn’t move here on a Friday night before the war, when there was late-night shopping. It used to be good fun, we had a lovely crowd. They just went mad when Collingwood won the Premiership. We had to close at 6pm, but people would dance in the streets.”

But by 2017, the pub was closed and “the windows boarded up,” the historical society says.

The British Crown Hotel had a stint as the Smith Street Bar & Bistro between 1984 and 2008. It later resumed operations under its original name from 2008 until around 2017.

“My understanding is that it is absolutely used to pump; it was one of the busiest pubs in Melbourne,” Wolman says.