Brisbane’s historic Collins House will open as a pub after a $5 million revamp

HERITAGE-LISTED Collins House is in the midst of a dramatic transformation into a pub thanks to high-profile restaurateur Matt Moran and his business partner, hotelier Bruce Solomon.

Bruce Solomon and Matt Moran.

IT’S the last surviving grand old home on trendy Grey Street, which was considered one of South Brisbane’s flash residential strips in the late 1800s.

In the years since then, Heritage-listed Collins House has changed hands a few times, serving variously as a police station and even a spaghetti joint during Expo ’88.

Today, the historic two-storey rendered brick building, complete with classic old verandas, sits oddly out of place among the gleaming new towers of the $600 million Southpoint mixed-used development and the street’s retail offerings.

But that’s about to change. Collins House is in the midst of a dramatic transformation in to a pub thanks to high-profile restaurateur Matt Moran and his business partner, hotelier Bruce Solomon.

Under their Solotel Group banner, the pair have rebadged the place “Little Big House’’ and expect to open for business late this month or in early December, accommodating crowds of up to 500.

They announced plans for the ambitious project at the start of the year and hoped for a quick turnaround.

But, not surprisingly, Heritage-related hurdles have slowed the pace somewhat and blown out the cost to between $4 million and $5 million.

When completed, it will be the third venue in Brisbane for Moran and Solomon. They also operate the up-market eateries Aria and the Riverbar & Kitchen at Eagle Street Pier.

Solomon described Collins House as “such a treasure’’ yesterday.

“It has a real identity to it, a real personality,’’ he told City Beat.

“It’s just unique and will be a bit of fun. We’re very happy with the result.’’

There’s more to come, too. Solomon revealed that he and Moran hope to open more venues in Brisbane in the near future.

CUTTING TIES

Embattled Brisbane energy mob LWP Technologies has finally cut ties with former chairman Siegfried Konig, who resigned in July but stayed on as a consultant and earned a hefty sum.

The company announced yesterday that the two sides had terminated the deal “by mutual consent,’’ with Konig pocketing a final $37,000 payment.

Before stepping down three months ago, Konig was on an astonishing $430,000 package even as LWP suffered enormous losses and had failed to commercialise its fracking technology over more than a decade.

LWP shares have been suspended since August as new chair Dan Lanskey conducts an internal review, which has now been extended to the end of this month.

Lanskey revealed more cost-cutting measures yesterday as the firm acknowledged it has just $469,000 in cash and a $187,659 share portfolio.

NICE SWING

Malaysian billionaire tycoon Lee Seng Huang and the Australian arm of his Mulpha International group are poised to splash out $11.6 million at Sanctuary Cove.

They hope to buy back the The Palms Golf Course, the adjoining Country Club and half the maintenance facilities, which were sold to members in 2007 but now face potential financial difficulties by 2023.

Members are set to vote early next month on the proposed sale to Mulpha, which already has more than $250 million invested in the Gold Coast masterplanned community.

Mulpha Australia boss Greg Shaw, formerly head of Dreamworld owner Ardent Leisure, kicked off talks with the club board more than a year ago.

This week Shaw announced that Mulpha had entered in to a memorandum of understanding with the club to complete a due diligence process ahead of a formal sales deal.

Meanwhile, Mulpha continues to search for a buyer willing to part with $300 million or more for its Hayman Island resort.

The group put the cyclone-battered property on the market back in July. That followed an $80 million renovation of the 160-room resort in 2014.

Estimates suggest another $80 million will be needed now to repair the resort, which Mulpha acquired in 2004.