Final bow for the Abercrombie
An inner-city icon, the Abercrombie Hotel, will shut its doors for the final time in January, as its owner, Frasers Property, prepares to begin construction work on the old Carlton & United Breweries (CUB) site in Chippendale.
Correspondence with Frasers Property confirmed the current tenant will depart the premises on January 22. Frasers said negotiations with the licensee were amicable.
Originally known as the Australian Hotel, the Abercrombie was built in 1938 and will be protected as a heritage structure during development of the brewery site. The developer currently has a Development Application lodged with the City of Sydney which includes plans for, “the construction of a sales gallery, small public park and retail shops, to be located on Broadway adjoining the Abercrombie Hotel.”
The 5.8 ha CUB site is also slated to include a public park, residential towers and a commercial campus.
Frasers Property said it has no plans to close the Clare Hotel, which also sits on Broadway, on the opposite end of the CUB site.
The announcement of the closure of the Abercrombie, a well-known live music site, follows shortly after the indefinite closure of the Hopetoun Hotel in Surry Hills. Since May 2005, it played host to ‘Purple Sneakers’, a live music night featuring DJs, local and international bands.
by Aaron Cook
