Union heartland the John Curtin Hotel has been sold to an unnamed developer, but the city is fighting its demise and unions have vowed to make hell for any proposed project.
Built in the 1870s, across from the Victorian Trades Hall Council building, the pub is known for its links to the union movement and Labor Party, and was frequented by Bob Hawke while he was ACTU president and later prime minister. Its name is a nod to wartime Labor prime minister John Curtin.
It is also a landmark live music venue deemed one of only a handful in Melbourne able to accommodate performances ranging from a local artist’s debut to an international attraction.
In February the pub’s current operators, whose lease expires in November, posted on social media that closure was imminent and that the building was being sold, thought to have an asking price of $6 million. The freehold last transacted in 2001, for $1 million.
Mid-April news emerged it had been sold for a price believed to be north of $5.5 million, to a buyer sources suggested was an overseas investor-developer, thought to be planning to continue operating it as a pub short-term, but likely to move toward redevelopment in the near future.
The Carlton site is zoned Mixed Use, with height limit that would facilitate a nine-storey structure.
But the Curtin won’t go down quietly. The City of Melbourne has already shown support for its preservation, granting the strongest possible level of protection, in an ‘interim heritage protection’.
“It is so important that we protect our heritage pubs and live music venues – not just because they are important heritage buildings, but because of their irreplaceable social and cultural value,” said deputy lord mayor Nicholas Reece.
“The Curtin has been a community meeting place for more than 160 years,” furthered Simon Ambrose, head of Victoria’s division of the National Trust.
“Our goal is to ensure that it remains a pub and live music venue, and doesn’t become a facade with a block of apartments behind it.”
The interim protection means the pub’s heritage value must be considered in any redevelopment proposal, but this allows keeping only the facade and constructing a new building on the block.
The City is looking to further upgrade the protection, via the Carlton Heritage Review, and is calling on the Minister for Planning to intervene.
Late last week the building industry group of unions met and unanimously agreed to a “green ban” and voted to do “whatever needs to be done” to protect the building.
This means workers from the CFMEU, Electrical Trades Union, Plumbing and Pipe Trades Employees Union, and Australian Manufacturing Workers Union will be advised to not work on any project at the site that doesn’t respect the hotel’s history and significance.
“We are really worried that an international developer is going to come in and create apartments in a really historically important building for Melbourne,” said Victorian Trades Hall Council Secretary Luke Hilikari.
“Green bans have made sure that we’ve preserved the heart of what is Melbourne. It’s sad that we have to do this again, but we have no other choice.”
Pioneered in the 70s, originally in Sydney, the term was coined by the Builders Labourers’ Federation to describe a refusal to work on projects on environmental or social responsibility grounds, including protecting historically significant buildings.
In Melbourne they were instrumental in saving iconic landmarks such as the Queen Victoria Market, Melbourne City Baths, Flinders Street station, Princess Theatre, and Hotel Windsor.
Rarely enacted since the 70s, the green ban could see not only inactive workers but an active picket line.
“We’re up for the fight, so if someone wants to rip this place down and turn it into apartments they can expect pretty rough going in Victoria.”
Hilikari claims the Electrical Trades Union entered a collaborative $6 million bid with RMIT, but that it was rejected by the vendor, and that agents are refusing to disclose details.
The sale was through CBRE Hotel’s Mathew George and colleagues from CBRE Metro Markets, who are unable to comment on the buyer, price or final timing of the agreement.
