‘Come a long way from a tin shed’: Behind Justin Hemmes’ renovation of east Sydney RSL Club Rose Bay

Hospitality tsar Justin Hemmes has revealed his personal motivation to manage a community institution in Sydney’s east - his own local - and why he’s under pressure to get it right.

Hospitality giant Merivale has entered into its first service agreement with an RSL, bailing out Club Rose Bay from administration. Picture: Jonathan Ng

Justin Hemmes is nervous.

Bringing his own local in Sydney’s east back from the brink of death and taking on Merivale’s first RSL partnership is a project that the hospitality giant’s chief executive said is deeply personal.

“There’s a lot resting on this for me,” he told The Daily Telegraph.

“I’m nervous because I’m so passionate about it and I want to get it right.”

Club Rose Bay is undergoing a huge renovation by hospitality giant Merivale. Picture: Supplied

Community members in the eastern suburbs are also anxiously awaiting the anticipated reopening of beloved institution Club Rose Bay in late December, after it went into administration in August 2024 and closed its doors to the public.

At a meeting in January this year, the members of the RSL voted near-unanimously to enter into an operations management agreement with hospitality giant Merivale to save the debt-ridden community venue.

Club Rose Bay president John Bax said when he took leadership of the institution in May 2023, “the club was not trading too well at all”.

Club Rose Bay. Picture: Damian Shaw

Club Rose Bay President John Bax, 101-year-old WWII veteran John Ryrie, Merivale chief executive Justin Hemmes and Rose Bay RSL sub-Branch President Charles Gallagher. Picture: Jonathan Ng

“It got to the point where the big decision had to be made,” he said.

“Thankfully Justin Hemmes and his team came in and looked around and saw this place has potential, location, it’s near transport, it has got a big community support base and they can do a lot with it.”

Despite Merivale investing millions in a luxe renovation and managing the venue’s hospitality services, ownership of the club’s assets and decisions on how it’s run will remain in the hands of members.

One member keen for the reopening is 101-year-old WWII veteran John Ryrie, who said he became member number 82 at the club in the late 1940s.

Mr Ryrie said he came across the venue upon his return from Papua New Guinea and Borneo, having seen a tin shed labelled ‘RSL’ while travelling on New South Head Road in a tram.

“No traffic, of course”, the air force veteran said.

Air force veteran John Ryrie and Merivale chief Justin Hemmes. Picture: Jonathan Ng

“It was good, we had a lovely bar and a good view. We had parties and things, it really was great”.

“It’s come a long way from a tin shed,” he said, looking at the final stages of the site’s renovation – hi-tech speakers and stained-glass being installed, and walls marked out for large televisions.

The revamped venue is set to include a sports bar, a 1950s airport-inspired cocktail bar and a sprawling dog-friendly beer garden with pickleball, a half basketball court and showers for those coming in from the neighbouring beach.

The key hospitality offering on site will be Notti’s – like Merivale’s famous Italian restaurant Totti’s, but not.

The exterior of Club Rose Bay in early November. Picture: Damian Shaw

Mr Hemmes said the casual dining restaurant’s menu will focus on pizza, without the puffy flatbread Totti’s is known for.

“If Totti’s and our pubs had a love child, maybe it’d be Notti’s,” he said.

Despite all the bells and whistles that come with being part of the Merivale hospitality empire, Mr Hemmes said Club Rose Bay remains a community hub and RSL at its core – including a daily moment of silence and reading of the Ode of Remembrance.

“Every night at six o’clock, the Ode (will be recited),” Mr Hemmes said.

Justin Hemmes said it’s important Club Rose Bay still operates as an RSL. Picture: Jonathan Ng

“This is an RSL club and it’s about respecting the returned soldiers and the fallen soldiers that gave their life to protect our country when we were under threat.”

Uniforms, historical documents and honour boards will be on display at the club’s entrance and throughout a memorabilia hall, and the club will continue to financially support RSL NSW through rental payments to the Rose Bay sub-branch.

Rose Bay RSL sub-branch president, Charles Gallagher, said the membership-based organisation “plays a vital role in supporting veterans and their families within the local community”.

“We’ve been here for 106 years,” he said.

“I’d like to see another 100 years. It’s going to continue.”

Mr Hemmes said he wanted veterans in full military uniform to feel comfortable in the venue, as well as Rose Bay locals who have walked in from the nearby beach in slides.

“I feel this part of the eastern suburbs has never had a community hub,” he said.

“It’s such an important facility and if we get it right, it’ll become a really important part of the fabric of our community.”

His financial and emotional investment in the venue is personal, as the venue is so close to Mr Hemmes’s house that he plans to “ride my bike here, I can bring the kids here”.

“I ride past every day on my bike and I have always seen the potential of this site,” he said.

“Everyone I see outside here, they’re very excited. So I have to deliver and that’s why I’m nervous, there’s a lot of pressure.”

Originally published as ‘Come a long way from a tin shed’: Behind Justin Hemmes’ renovation of east Sydney RSL Club Rose Bay