Albion Hotel relocating to Smith St Parramatta
One of Parramatta’s last remaining watering holes is leaving its home of 140 years, with a new site and vision for the popular pub now unveiled. Take a look at the plans.
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It has been the favoured haunt for a tipple among Parramatta’s corporates, clubbers, footy players and journalists for decades but the Albion Hotel’s exit from George St is becoming a reality, with plans now emerging for its new home.
A development application for the pub to relocate to 20 Smith St in the CBD has been lodged with Parramatta Council and reveals plans to convert the first two floors of the eight-storey office tower into a bar, dining lounge and nightclub.
The Albion owner, Solotel Group, plans to run a “contemporary urban venue” for 1550 patrons 24 hours Monday to Saturday and 5am to midnight on Sunday.
“The proposed Albion relocation offers, to the Parramatta CBD, an all-day and late-night and multi-offer venue,’’ the plans state in council documents.
“This venue will cater to the growing diverse cultural population. That is, providing the community with an inclusive recreational and leisure options of an international standard.’’
The vision is to build “on the legacy of the Albion Hotel”.
Discussions about the pub’s departure from George St remain ongoing and a closure date has not been set despite a development application for its demolition submitted to the council in January.
“We’re at the first stage of the development application process for the new site — so we’re a way off having a move date,’’ Solotel Group chief executive Elliot Solomon said.
“Right now, it’s business as usual and we’re hoping to stay at our current George St location for as long as we can.”
The original Albion Hotel opened in 1882 but it was demolished and rebuilt in 1924, and the Solomon family acquired the pub in 1986.
Today, “the Albi” is a casualty of Parramatta’s unstoppable development boom.
In 2020, bulldozers crushed the 207-year-old Royal Oak Hotel at Parramatta to make way for the light rail and soon the Albion will be replaced with two towers housing 405 apartments, as well as a cinema, wine bar, function space, billiard rooms and indoor bowls.
The State Government approved the unit complex at 135 George St and 118 Harris St in March 2020.
It will sit opposite the light rail stop at Robin Thomas Reserve, near where multiple other developments are earmarked.
A block from the Albion on Macquarie St, the former Cumberland Newspapers site will be transformed with three towers containing 960 apartments under a project where blocks will soar up to 60 storeys.
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Originally published as Albion Hotel relocating to Smith St Parramatta
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