Two classic Melbourne pubs set to make way for apartment developments
The venerable Melbourne institution otherwise known as the local pub continues to feel the pinch as the lure of apartment living looks set to account for two more well known venues.
Latest to be earmarked for demolition is South Melbourne's Palmerston Hotel which many Melburnians would have driven past at one point or another, given its position on Kings Way. First licensed during 1876, current proponents Max Group Capital 2 Pty Ltd have applied to replace the existing dual level venue which is defined externally by a number of murals.
In the pub's place would rise a building of 55 apartments.
Designed by DKO Architecture, the proposal addressed 51-59 Palmerston Crescent, South Melbourne would span 10 storeys and include 24 x 1 bed, 28 x 2 bed and 3 x 3 bed dwellings.
In documents lodged with City of Port Phillip, DKO Architecture describe the proposal as "functional, responsive to its corner location and respectful of transition in built form height, also expresses exemplary creativity and innovation in design. It will be a prominent building of high architectural within the Kings Way setting.
In this regard the building itself is considered to satisfy urban art Principles 1 and 2 by: - Providing creative and innovative built form in a highly visible location; - Contributing to the identity of place by contributing the diversity of built form along the Kings Way corridor; and - the proposal holds aesthetic appeal and will be a functional streetscape element."
Palmerston Hotel's apparent demise follows on from Port Melbourne's London Hotel which is subject to a luxury apartment proposal. Diagonally opposite Station Pier, the watering hole and restaurant is intending to cash in on its premier location and associated premium dollar attached to apartments in the area under the plans of developer TAB Developments Pty Ltd.
Decibel Architecture and b.e architecture have created the proposal which would see 32 apartments and one food/drink premises supersede the London Hotel.
One bedroom apartments within the proposal begin at 60sqm, two bedroom dwellings range between 107sqm and 135sqm while the intended projects three bedroom dwellings range between 147sqm and a very hefty 232sqm.
The loss of Melbourne pubs to apartment developments in nothing new, with one of the more high profile cases in recent years being that of the Stork Hotel opposite Queen Victoria Market. In its place Vision Apartments at well over 200 metres is approaching completion.
Other notable pubs lost to development include the Canada Hotel in Carlton and Footscray's Belgravia Hotel which has remained a dormant site postafter the venue's demolition.
Richmond's Rising Sun Hotel may well join the above examples with a residential complex approved for the site while the CBD's Duke of Kent and Great Western are also in danger with the former subject to a planning application, and the latter currently for sale as a development site.
Lead image credit: Wikipedia and Yelp.
