Four-level dining precinct to move into iconic Naldham House

It was home to the Brisbane Polo Club for more than 25 years, now an exciting new food and drink project from one of the city’s top hospitality groups is set to transform the heritage site.

Naldham House was home to the Brisbane Polo Club for 25 years and will now be transformed into a dining precinct. Picture: Annette Dew

One of Brisbane’s most high profile hospitality groups has taken over CBD icon Naldham House, with plans to turn it into a multi-level restaurant, bar, lounge and function space.

DAP & Co. Hospitality Group, behind popular Brisbane ventures The Gresham, Walters Steakhouse and Popolo Italian Kitchen and Bar, have secured a lease on the heritage-listed site on Mary St, which was previously home to the Brisbane Polo Club for 25 years before it shut in 2015.

“We’re excited to see such a beautiful building get a makeover and become a central part of Brisbane,” said co-founder of DAP & Co Andrew Baturo.

Restaurateur Andrew Baturo is co-founder of hospitality group DAP & Co, which has taken out a lease on heritage site Naldham House in Brisbane’s CBD. Picture: Jamie Hanson

The site has sat empty since 2015, after it was bought by Singaporean billionaire investor Koh Wee Meng for $11 million, and sold just five months later to Eagle Street Pier landlords Dexus Property Group for $15.4 million.

Dexus struck a deal with Mantle Hospitality Group, behind the well-known Pig & Whistle pubs, in 2019 to take over the lease, but the deal allegedly fell through, leading Dexus to approach DAP & Co.

Naldham House in Eagle Street, Brisbane. Picture: David Clark

DAP & Co, which is co-owned by music industry and events heavyweights Paul Piticco and Denis Sheahan, is keeping tight-lipped on the exact details of the new development, which will be spread across 1500sq m over four levels.

“We’ve got some really exciting plans and we feel we’ve got something really special, but we’re still a long way off. We want to have a bit of mystery surrounding it,” Mr Baturo said.

Mr Baturo said the new spaces would be designed to showcase the heritage aspects of the building and believed the project would be a drawcard for people to the CBD, which is yet to return to pre-Covid capacity as more office employees choose to work from home.

“We think a venue like this is going to be part of the reason that drives tourists into the city,” he said. “It will give the city a secondary source of clientele and I think it will have a strong weekend attraction for people.”