Police are treating as suspicious a fire that engulfed the closed-down Corkman Irish Pub early on Saturday.
In October, 2014, the pub freehold was put to market through CBRE by a private vendor that had owned it since 1988, with a leaseholder in place for another six months. Development potential was cited as a key component underpinning the asset.
The auction on 30 October saw a number of interested parties push well past the $3 million reserve, with a local developer taking it for $4.76 million.
The business closed at some stage after the sale, although the pub’s website and that of its backpacker hostel show no signs of having been updated since mid-2014. It is not known whether the new owners attempted to renew or sell the lease, or intended to manage the business themselves.
Around 6am on Saturday (8 October) a passer-by saw a fire within the closed-down pub on Carlton’s busy Leicester Street, and alerted emergency services.
The building was extensively damaged, and authorities reported there would be an investigation by arson detectives.
Victoria Police today confirmed to PubTIC that the investigation continues. At this stage the fire is being treated as suspicious, but no further information is yet available.
The building was then demolished illegally by the developer even after VCAT issued a ‘stop work’ order on Sat 16 October. There is currently a campaign to have the developers charged and the hotel rebuilt.