Hospitality tsar Justin Hemmes has unveiled unprecedented expansion plans across Australia while defending his controversial vision, saying a 24-hour city is not what NIMBYs fear.
The night-life tsar has championed the NSW government and City of Sydney’s plans to turn the Harbour City into a destination that never sleeps.
But he said the plan wasn’t about 24-hour nightclubs – as many people trying to block the vision like to claim – it is about getting the right mix of hospitality open to the public around the clock.
“When we talk about a 24 hour economy we’re not talking about 4am or 5am clubs,” he said.
“A 24-hour economy is about creating wonderful places for breakfast, for brunch and for lunch. (It is) for afternoon connection and having restaurants that open at midday and shut at 2am.
“A 24-hour economy is … everything from breakfast to late-night bars, to jazz venues, to great places for dinner that don’t shut the kitchen at 9pm.”
Mr Hemmes said the state government was going through a “realisation” of the “vibrant economy” a 24-hour city could create: “The willingness to push through and expedite DAs that create vitality for the city through hospitality – it’s been unprecedented.”
But Mr Hemmes raised fears for smaller hospitality ventures fighting their way into the expensive Sydney market when submitting developments.
“I mean, I can afford it, but more for the sole trader, it is a big outlay which adds risk to the smaller developer,” he said.
“It’s a bit of a catch-22 because you want (the hospitality industry) to be accessible to everyone – but you also need to have controls to ensure you don’t get rogue developments.”
Despite the complexity, the Merivale chief executive said pathways to new restaurants, bars and live music venues meant the industry was “in the best place it’s ever been in my lifetime”.
Meanwhile, the Merivale boss’s passion for injecting more live music into his venues has seen the creation of a 30-piece house band established at The Press.
“It’s always been a challenge in the past with live music, because it is expensive for venues to put live music bands on,” he said.
“So the commitment to doing that is repaid when the customers come and want to spend their hard-earned money there.
“But the atmosphere you get from live music, it just can’t be replicated.”
In an exclusive one-on-one interview with The Daily Telegraph, Mr Hemmes also lifted the lid on his plans to inject the same recipe for success into new spaces across the country, with opening dates revealed for venues in Sydney CBD, Paddington, Rose Bay, Byron Bay and the NSW south coast.
Days after plans to transform a series of heritage properties in the heart of the CBD into a bustling haven of dining, accommodation, live music and office spaces was approved, the night-life tsar sat down to discuss the future of the house of Hemmes.
While busy laying out the final details of his plans for the NSW south coast town of Narooma, the Merivale boss confessed he’d been in business “for over 30 years”, when asked what is next for his ever-growing kingdom.
“The evolution of Merivale has been, is driven by, the talent within the company,” he said. “It’s driven by our passion for creating wonderful experiences for our guests.
“And that’s exactly how we will continue.”
Mr Hemmes said the addition of exciting new ventures – with the Merivale name hanging over the door – was “limited only by time and internal capabilities”.
While declaring the not-so-secret Hemmes hospitality recipe wasn’t set to change, he said his “levels of enthusiasm and passion for doing great things is at an all-time high” after the dark days of lockouts and Covid lockdowns.
“It’s been a wonderful reset, and it’s given us this … fuel to do more.”
LB’s Record Bar to open in October as the first Melbourne venue of Justin Hemmes’ Merivale empire
Its that fuel that set plans in motion for an “extraordinary development” to transform heritage buildings at 71-75 York, 46-52 King and 104-118 Clarence streets into a high-end bar and restaurant precinct dubbed Kings Green.
With 35 venues already in the Sydney CBD, Mr Hemmes said he wanted to surge ahead to bring new life to heritage buildings currently sitting dormant.
“The vision I had was to bring these buildings to life,” he said.
“I had this vision to actually connect these five buildings and create this wonderful journey throughout all of the buildings and almost bring them together as if they were one.”
He revealed the Kings Green development would not involve a full “shutdown, rebuild” of the site – with venues opening in the precinct over the next five to seven years as enabling works get under way.
Just down the road, at 65 York Street, work is also well under way on the transformation of the former Woolworths CBD shopfront.
Hemmes snapped up the metro site for $6.8 million in November 2023, with an opening date of a new restaurant set for late 2026.
Meanwhile, in Paddington, a new Jimmy’s Falafel and Jimmy’s Downstairs will open next to The Paddington, Fred’s and Charlie Parker early next year in a redevelopment “well under construction on Oxford St”.
Why the NSW Government could be forced to pay Justin Hemmes’ Merivale $234.5 million
Not Totti’s: Merivale to open Notti's Italian restaurant at Club Rose Bay RSL
He also revealed he hopes to create an “iconic community landmark” in the redevelopment of Club Rose Bay in the city’s east, after its former owners fell into liquidation.
The Merivale boss said he aimed to create a place for community in an area of the eastern suburbs “a bit devoid of it”.
The revival of venues across the CBD isn’t the only front for the expansion of Merivale, with Mr Hemmes lifting the lid on the inspiration to transform an iconic 1970s motel at Narooma into a new hotel and restaurant precinct, expected to open early next year.
Set to be known as The Whale Inn at Narooma, Mr Hemmes said the project aimed to create jobs for 120 locals, declaring his hope that the development would prevent younger generations from leaving the regional community.
Meanwhile, another Totti’s and Jimmy’s Falafel are expected to swing open their doors to customers in Byron Bay in the second half of 2026.
Add your comment to this story
To join the conversation, please log in. Don't have an account? Register
Join the conversation, you are commenting as Logout
Senior Lib call for party to ditch NIMBY-ism ‘cancer’
Coalition housing spokesman Andrew Bragg will use a major speech to also further his comments that house prices for entry-level homes need to drop.
$34.7bn demand to fix hospitals at ‘breaking’ point
The peak body representing doctors has called for an urgent $34.7bn funding fix or risk ballooning elective surgery and ER wait times.