Iris Capital and Sam Arnaout have lodged a second undesirable Development Application for Kings Cross’ historic Bourbon Hotel, located on the land of the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation, and residents are not going down without a fight.
The Development Application is set to stretch from Blake’s Chemist to the Empire Hotel. The $65,444,808 project will see the demolition of all facades between 18-32 Darlinghurst Rd, bar three. Those set to be preserved include the front of the The Bourbon building, built in the 1880s, the Lowestoft site, built in the 1890s, and the Commodore apartment block, built 1928.
The plan outlines that both The Bourbon and The Empire would be part of the developement, albeit confined to smaller spaces. A mixed-use developement of both retail shopfronts, residential apartments and hotel rooms will surround the pubs. As indicated in the developement plan below:
Five basement levels, accommodating building services, car parking, motorcycle and bicycle parking, service requirements and end of trip facilities; a lower ground floor tenancy such as a medical center or other suitable commercial use; two venue spaces, four retail tenancies and lobby entrances at the ground floor; a pedestrian thoroughfare located at the northern end of the site, adjacent the Lowestoft, one and a half levels of tourist and visitor accommodation and 54 apartments of one, two and three bedroom configuration.
If approved, residents and businesses in Kings Cross will be subjected to four years of excavation, dust, noise, and explosions from 7am to 5pm six days a week.
“Many small business’s livelihoods will be impacted as the site utilises several small streets where several cafes, retail and restaurants are adjacent,” Carrington Brigham, Executive Chairman, Potts Point Partnership told City Hub. “The construction, noise and dust will impact them and any potential customers.”
The Darlinghurst Resident Action Group has predicted that whilst the construction is taking place over 14,000 trucks will be required to navigate through Kings Cross’ narrow residential streets, and the main strip of Darlinghurst Rd. “That’s 1 truck every 9 minutes 6 days a week for more than 6 months just for the demolition.”
With street access compromised, there is a permeating fear that small businesses will not survive the developement.
It’s also an aesthetic nightmare. It’s big, gaudy, and sticks out like a sore thumb. I’m sure it’d look absolutely gorgeous in Zetland or The Ponds, but Potts Point isn’t that. Potts Point is art deco magic, it’s gritty and grimy in a way that’s sort of romantic. Introducing something so big, so shiny, so new is jarring.
I’m almost certain that this new developement will usher in an era of cultural stagnation for Kings Cross. It’s bleak, charmless, and sterile. Some may accuse those rallying against the development of being married to the nostalgia of what The Cross once was. To that I say, “fuck you!”
Heritage is worth protecting. Cramming apartments into overblown, ugly buildings whilst sapping the life force out of a vibrant community is a heinous, cultural suicide.
There are a number of pragmatic steps you can take to help save Kings Cross.
1. Learn more about the new Development Application by visiting https://tinyurl.com/y3ssjy7z.
3. Write to the Sydney City Council councillors.
