[Dyllip]

Fingers crossed to retain or expand the sites entertainment space as part of a redevelopment. Pool Club on a higher level sounds interesting!

Odd we are losing some pretty nice venues to redevelopment (eg. Home @ Cockle Bay Wharf or The Bourbon) whilst the old dives still jog on with not a dime in improvement *cough ARQ, Stonewall. Guess a case of why fix if the punters still come in droves.

 

[Dyllip]

What better way to get rid of those elite grubs than replacing a venue with an exclusive 5 star hotel. Sydney appears to be gentrifying from a place for the egalitarian middle class to the rich and elite. Taking the example of the lockouts effect on Kings Cross again, in its prime the venues had a great diversity of patrons. Nowadays it's very heavily skewed toward eastern suburbs youth. And small bars definitely aren't picking up the slack in the market with their $25 cocktails.. All part of keeping the unwashed at Rooty Hills RSL and Panthers I guess.. #wheremySydneygone.

 

[Dyllip]

Absolutely agree guys. I am extremely concerned about Sydney nightlife in general, this project though I rest assured that Hemmes will include a flagship nightspot in conjunction with the hotel tower - hopefully even something even better than Ivy.

Despite it being the State's most violent venue, it still ranks #1 on many international visitors lists, primarily because of the rooftop pool club. I would not underestimate the power of influence venues like this have on visitors.

However, the regulations of NSW Liquor and Gaming is still super discouraging and prohibitive:

"The liquor licence freeze in the Sydney CBD and Kings Cross has been extended to 1 June 2018. The freeze in Kings Cross is aligned with the current Sydney CBD freeze. The freeze restricts the granting of licences for hotels, clubs, takeaway liquor outlets, various liquor related authorisations such as extended trading, and development consents in the CBD and Kings Cross precincts. Other minor changes provide opportunities for businesses to refurbish and improve their service. Whether an application is likely to result in an increase in people entering the precincts principally to consume alcohol has been removed. However, other restrictions preventing the approval of applications likely to result in the patron capacity of a CBD or Kings Cross venue being increased have been retained"

 

[Dyllip]

While the lockout laws have some part to play, I think it's more changing preferences.

No. You can't say it's the changing preferences of the market when it is not a free market. Up until 2 years ago you could not open a venue in the entire inner city with a capacity over 60 patrons, this has increased to 100 but is a VERY far cry off of the Ivy capacity at a few thousand.

The same stupid logic is applied to housing supply which is a bubble due to government intervention in the free market. When people say there is a "trend for high rise living" - again wrong - people are forced into high rise living because the cost of a detached house is extremely prohibitive due to government policy.

The dumbest thing is, night life and patronage has been destroyed and they have barely eased up on the regulation. It needs to be way more flexible. For starters, the lockout needs to fully go. Keep the restrictions on shots, premixed and doubles after 12. This should have been the gradual approach from the start.