Developer David Marriner has bold plans for Brisbane Hotel as nearby residents fear for their safety

Hobart’s Brisbane Hotel was once a mecca for live music. Read how it has fallen into disrepair and take a peek at plans for a revamp which have hit a snag.

The front door is now boarded up. The Brisbane Hotel in Hobart that has been closed for some time. Picture: Nikki Davis-Jones

A once thriving Hobart hotel is now the “drug corner of Hobart” with nearby residents fearing for their safety and the owner’s bold plans for a redevelopment are stalled.

The Brisbane Hotel is owned by David Marriner who recently bought the Norske Skog paper mill at Boyer for $27m. He is keen for it to re-open as a live music venue but is awaiting a title for a nearby piece of land.

Signage on a laneway adjacent to The Brisbane Hotel. The Brisbane Hotel in Hobart that has been closed for some time. Picture: Nikki Davis-Jones

Resident Hannah Sutton said the old hotel in Brisbane St and abandoned properties nearby have become “a popular site for vagrancy, trespassing, violent behaviour and drug dealing”.

“The issues are often due to local kids trespassing but also due to violent and problematic behaviours from people squatting in the Brisbane and abandoned areas,” she said.

“We have had to deal with destruction of our property, an attempted break in, squatters dealing weed to children and even running a meth lab, fires lit in the hotel, dumping of stolen property, people urinating and threats to our personal safety.

“It has been an incredibly confronting and scary time, not only do we often feel unsafe, we have had to pay out of our own pockets for security systems and gate repairs etc.

“Our real estate and the local police have been extremely supportive and empathetic, but we have been told by the police that no action can be taken to fix this issue or remove trespassers unless it comes from the owner.”

Renders of proposed development at The Brisbane Hotel in Hobart by JKD Property Holdings. Picture: Techne

Ms Sutton has rented nearby for three years and “we absolutely love it” but the problems have escalated and say she and her partner will be forced to move if the hotel is not secured.

“I understand that David, the owner, has come across some roadblocks in getting the site approved for renovation, however at the very least we feel it needs to be cleaned up and boarded up or secured in some way to prevent all this activity, especially because it is spilling over into other private properties and threatening our safety,” she said.

“We also have neighbours who are experiencing the same issues and concerns for (their) safety.”

Renders of proposed development at The Brisbane Hotel in Hobart by JKD Property Holdings. Picture: Techne

Mr Marriner is disappointed the hotel is not open after a leading Australian architect submitted plans for a revamped hotel.

“It has become the drug corner of Hobart,” he said.

“It is always being vandalised, there’s graffiti and it is broken into. There are squatters there. It’s terrible and we can’t fix it.

“It has been an unbelievable saga – it should have been up and running years ago.

“Techne, a leading Australian architectural firm with significant experience in the live hospitality space, have been engaged on this project for the past two years.”

Mr Marriner said a pre-application planning meeting with the Hobart City Council was held more than a year ago.

“The issues that we are currently facing is that our plans maximise the property footprint which includes a small section of a right of way at the back of the property,” he said.

“The titles office cannot identify who the legal owner is of this right of way and as such, our lawyers (Murdoch Clarke) have been searching title archive records to identify the current owner/beneficiary of this land.

“This is an extremely tedious process which is holding up progress with the development which is an outstanding design.”

Renders of proposed development at The Brisbane Hotel in Hobart by JKD Property Holdings. Picture: Techne

While the hotel has graffiti, smashed windows and signs warning people to stop climbing the fences and bins and says there are cameras, Mr Marriner has developed a state of the art car service centre on the same block.

“We are excited about what the project can bring to Hobart, and equally excited to reopen the venue that will promote live music,” Mr Marriner said.

In August 2019 then Brisbane Hotel owners Christopher “Gibbo” Giblett and Casey Bond tried to raise $100,000 to keep the doors open after receiving a Building Notice preventing them from holding any live music events.

Property developer David Marriner outside of Parliament House in Canberra.

The hotel had been on notice from Hobart City Council for three years over fire compliance issues which did not meet the requirements of the Building Act 2016.

At the time frontman with popular Tasmanian band Luca Brasi, Tyler Richardson, threw his support behind the Brisbane Hotel saying there’s “nothing quite like it” in the state.

“There’s nothing quite like it in Tasmania, and there’s only a few venues like it around Australia,” Richardson said.

“It’s a real rock ‘n’ roll pub and that sort of thing is going by the wayside.”

Hobart mayor Anna Reynolds said title issues could only be resolved the the state government, not the council.

“It’s very frustrating to hear that the title’s clarification is holding this project up,” Ms Reynolds said.

“Providing notification to landowners is a mandatory part of the planning process. Until this occurs, the applicant is unable to lodge a valid planning application. This requirement is imposed by the Tasmanian government in the planning legislation.

“I’d be happy to write to the minister responsible for the Titles Office to see if this process can be sped up, if this would be helpful.”

Originally published as Developer David Marriner has bold plans for Brisbane Hotel as nearby residents fear for their safety