A legal bid by Australian fashion label Alemais to open its flagship store in a historic Paddington pub has been knocked back by a NSW court.
The Village Inn on Glenmore Road, formerly the Rose and Crown Hotel and later Durty Nelly’s, was built in the 1850s but was altered in subsequent decades including the late 1880s. It is listed as an item of local heritage significance under Woollahra planning controls.
The historic Village Inn pub in Paddington.Credit: Oscar Colman
The pub sits at the heart of Paddington’s upmarket retail precinct The Intersection, at the corner of Glenmore Road and Oxford Street, which boasts home-grown brands such as Scanlan Theodore and Zimmermann. Cosmetics retailer Mecca is a stone’s throw away on Oxford Street.
Bowie Ferris Investments Pty Ltd, the investment company of husband and wife duo and Alemais founders Lesleigh Jermanus and Chris Buchanan, bought the site in 2022 for more than $6 million.
But their plan to convert the site from a pub into a high-end boutique triggered a backlash from the local community.
Property developer and fashion entrepreneur Theo Onisforou, founder of The Intersection and landlord to upmarket tenants including Zimmermann and Scanlan Theodore, was another vocal opponent.
Woollahra councillor Harriet Price, who spoke in her capacity as a Paddington councillor and member of the community campaign rather than representing the views of the council, said: “This is a huge win for heritage conservation and community activism.
“I am proud of the collective efforts of Paddington locals – through street rallies, terrace signage, hundreds of written submissions and thousands of petition signatures – to prevent the loss of this culturally significant and much-loved heritage pub.”
Price spoke against the proposal in the NSW Land and Environment Court, along with Onisforou, independent Sydney MP Alex Greenwich and a Paddington resident.
In a decision on Friday, the court dismissed an appeal by Bowie Ferris Investments against the refusal of development consent to change the use of the site from a pub to a shop.
The Village Inn.Credit: Oscar Colman
That application had been rejected by the Woollahra Planning Panel in October 2022.
“The case hinges on the hotel’s heritage status and the impact upon what is a significant local establishment were it to cease trading as a licensed premises,” Senior Commissioner Susan Dixon said.
“While I understand all too well that I cannot force the continuation of the Village Inn’s operation as a pub, in the absence of satisfactory evidence which demonstrates that the existing pub use is unviable, I am not prepared to approve the proposed change of use to a shop as this would adversely impact the primary heritage significance of the [site]... being its use as a pub,” Dixon said.
Dixon said Bowie Ferris had submitted that if the development application “is not approved then the pub use is likely to cease and the land will lay fallow and that is not orderly and efficient use of the land”.
However, Dixon said it had not been shown that the pub was unviable.
Alemais was contacted for comment.
Start the day with a summary of the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter.