Cloud over The Curtin lifts as pub’s new owner looks to lease it

Melbourne’s historic John Curtin Hotel, whose recent sale sparked a music industry backlash and union-backed “green ban” will not be redeveloped and will instead be leased as an ongoing concern.

At the time of the pub’s sale last April, the buyer’s identity and price were kept confidential, but this masthead has tracked down the Singapore-based investor, YY Property, and can reveal it paid $5.08 million for the hotel.

Luke Hilarki led a group of unionists and residents in April at Carlton’s John Curtin Hotel to back the “green ban” on the redevelopment of the site.Credit: Darrian Traynor

The pub’s sale and subsequent suggestions it was destined for redevelopment sparked an outcry from building industry unions, who slapped a ‘green ban’ advising members not to work on the site. The controversy also prompted the City of Melbourne to grant the hotel an interim ‘significant’ heritage listing.

The union ban echoed campaigns in the 1970s credited with saving important buildings like the City Baths, the Regent Theatre, Flinders Street Station and Queen Victoria Market.

The new owner, who would only discuss details via email, told this masthead it intended to lease the building long term, a significant reprieve for the pub which, following the controversy surrounding its sale, was jointly nominated by Victoria’s National Trust and Victorian Trades Hall for protection on the state’s heritage register.

“Our intention is to hold it as an investment,” YY Property said.

“We have appointed CBRE as our leasing agent to secure a long-term lease for the building.”

The pub’s current lease under publican Ben ‘Rusty’ Russell runs out at the end of this month and The Curtin is advertising its last, sold out, show Floodlights on November 30.

But Russell and the pub’s live music fans may get a reprieve. It’s understood agents at CBRE are negotiating with Russell, although neither party would confirm details.

“For the entire time we have run the venue, we have only been given a year by year lease,” Russell said.

Former premier Steve Bracks, then-opposition leader Bill Shorten and Premier Daniel Andrews share a beer at The Curtin after Bob Hawke’s death in 2019.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

“It’s hard to invest if you think you will be turfed out all the time. To get a long-term lease would be a reward for all the hard work, but also really great boost for the music community.”

Victorian Trades Hall secretary Luke Hilakari said the union movement and Carlton residents would be “thrilled” to hear of the pub’s change of fortune. “It’s amazing news,” he said.

“There should not be any future changes to the outside or the inside of the building. We want to secure the hotel for the residents of Carlton, for musos across Victoria as a live venue, and for unionists to enjoy this historic place.”

The Curtin, as it is commonly known, was established on a site opposite where it’s located today in 1859, the same year as Trades Hall opened. It was redeveloped in 1915 on its current site and called the Lygon Hotel before its name changed to the John Curtin Hotel in 1969, around the same time Bob Hawke was elected president of the Australian Council of Trade Unions.

The pub has a long and gritty history as a live music venue, hosting fortnightly Aboriginal band nights in the 1990s and in the 1970s live shows like Cash Savage, Orb and Blake Scott.

Heritage Victoria is still assessing the pub, but supporters say its history as a watering hole for the union movement and luminaries such as Hawke, and its place in Melbourne’s pantheon of well-known live music venues, add to its stature.

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