Sydney publican Brett Strauss has taken on the new-opportunity Kent Street Hotel, beginning a fresh redesign and pitch to shifting markets beneath a host of changes above.
Strauss is the proprietor of the Chippendale Hotel in the southern fringes of the CBD, and previously the operator of the late-trading Sly Fox in Enmore.
The private investor owners of the hotel structure at 347-349 Kent St have for the past year been renovating the asset, with a new foyer and fit-out in the 17 floors of accommodation, and sub-division of a level previously part of the street level pub, which has been closed in the interim.
This sub-division brings a 2,000sqm co-working office space set to have around 1,000 desks and workers.
What remains at the street- and lower-street levels – the former Mr Tipplys – was put out to tender and will now become Strauss’ Kent St Hotel on a 20-year lease.
The venue will aim to accommodate two distinct markets. During the day it will cater to a budget corporate crowd, offering affordable, no-nonsense high-quality pub classics, with a special each day such as a great burger and a beer for $13.50.
Working the kitchen will be Strauss’ new secret weapon, a career chef that has been serving pub customers on Sussex street for more than a decade.
“We’re going for the guys that are coming to have a burger, watch a bit of NBA, watch a bit of sport in the front bar, maybe put some money in the pokies then off they go back to work,” he says.
The pub’s theme will be primarily Cuban, sporting a chic urban design and hundreds of plants he describes as “like Veranda on steroids”.
But for the weekends the venue will be transformed, courtesy of hidden caster wheels making everything movable, to create sectioned spaces and dance floors, and generally increase versatility.
Strauss plans to leverage his long-standing relationships with Sydney promoters to ramp up the activity on Friday and Saturday nights, hoping to attract a younger crowd. This part of the CBD sees very little foot traffic after dark and on the weekends, but with Slipp Inn and Darling Harbour close by he feels there is a market to meet.
“The people that come in Monday to Friday probably won’t recognise it on Friday and Saturday night.
“There’s definitely potential there to have good weekend trade if you get the right promoters, and we’ve got an entertainment option.”
Beginning a 12-week interior fit-out, Kent St is already equipped with the right sound system and effects, and due to open 1 October it will boast a large pizza oven he hopes to keep burning 24 hours a day.
“I’ve got to take advantage of the trading hours.
“But I think it’s no longer enough to be just doing good food, at the moment you’ve got to be a bit of a jack of all trades.
“It’s daunting, trying to open a new hotel in these troubled times, but this is ultimately a long-term play.”
