Iris has secured hard-won approval to continue its advancement of Manly’s iconic Steyne Hotel, after the courts ruled on extensive measures to dispel neighbour disputes.
After approvals, rulings, appeals and further adjudication, the NSW Land and Environment Court has determined the pub developer can proceed with plans for the destination beachside pub, updating its internals and amenities, and its heritage façade.
Established as a hotel in 1859, the Art Deco landmark overlooking Manly Beach was built in 1936.
Sam Arnaout’s Iris Group bought The Steyne in 2019 for $65 million from pub king Arthur Laundy and veteran John Singleton, who owned it in partnership with Robert Whyte and Mark Carnegie.
In 2020 the Group took the opportunity while pubs were closed due to the pandemic to execute a swift $3 million renovation, bringing a new cocktail bar and coffee shop, makeover in the Magic Millions Bar, and re-touch of the upstairs accommodation rooms.
Two years later Iris got L&E approval for a $16.2 million development to build four storeys of luxury ‘shop top’ apartments overlooking the Pacific, adjoining the Hotel on its northern boundary.
In 2024 another $8 million development application was submitted, said to be “promoting Manly’s tourist economy” through further renewal and expansion of the hotel. This was approved June 2024 by Northern Beaches Local Planning Panel.
But this proposal drew 17 public submissions, and nearby residents voiced concern over the potential for increased noise, particularly out of the pub’s outdoor areas.
The concerns prompted the panel to apply conditions on the DA, dictating that noise from both patrons and any amplified source must not be audible – at any time – “within any habitable room of any neighbouring residential premises”. The installation of noise limiters would also be required.
Iris appealed the conditions, and in February arguments were heard in a conciliation conference between Iris and Northern Beaches Council, with court commissioner Nicola Targett ruling in April that the appeal would be upheld.
Conditions remain, and noise limiters will still need to be installed in all outdoor areas, as well as 1.5-metre-tall acoustic panels applied to the northern wall of the beer garden, and sound diffusing acoustic treatment of doors, windows and the roof.
Works can now begin, heralding improvements to provide “a modernised environment with diverse offerings”.
This incorporates the pub’s famous ‘Round Bar’ being “returned to its former glory as a saloon bar”, with a new entry, and a new bar and landscaping at street level. There will be a new staircase leading to level 2, where the existing bar will make way for a replacement plus bistro.
A total of eight more rooms are to be added upstairs for visitor accommodation.
And updates to the Steyne’s legendary façade will amount to new doors off The Corso, and replacement windows and awnings.
Iris declined to comment on the project at this stage, but offered that the work will hopefully start in coming weeks.
