Taking a unique unused space and turning it into a pumping Perth venue has become a trademark of best mates and hospitality stars Drew Flanagan and Ross Drennan.
The pair opened their first bricks and mortar hospitality offering three years ago in Fremantle when they took an empty synagogue, built in 1902, and turned it into a four-venue destination complete with bars, a restaurant and a hidden speakeasy with a 1000-person capacity.
Ross Drennan and Drew Flanagan are best mates who have gone from running national Oktoberfest events to opening some of Perth’s most popular venues. The pair are pictured at their second venue The Beaufort which opened seven weeks ago.Credit: Peter de Kruijff
They went on to open a multi-tiered inner-city pub in Highgate seven weeks ago, The Beaufort, which was converted from a 1950s warehouse, and are making moves to bring to life another two new ventures in a quickly expanding stable of venues.
Last month it was announced the pair were in negotiations with the state government to try and turn around the much maligned Yagan Square development in the heart of the Perth CBD.
The government is stumping up $7 million for a redesign of the building’s market hall which got little foot traffic even before the COVID-19 pandemic.
Flanagan said it was well known that Yagan Square had not worked.
Perth’s Yagan Square opened to much fanfare but has been a commercial failure.
“But we see an opportunity with the university [ECU’s inner-city campus] being built across the road there, and being that link between Northridge and the city,” he said.
“That should really activate that end of town and the city as well.”
The possibilities were swimming around the pairs heads. The space is similar in size to The Beaufort and Flanagan said the square could wind up having a larger capacity than their latest pub which caters to 1500 people.
When ECU opens its new campus in 2025 it will help fill in the vacant sandpit feel of the Perth City Link.
But before that the government is hoping Flanagan and Drennan will draw in the crowds.
At first, the pair did not think they would get into the venue side of the industry.
The two 35-year-olds, who met playing social cricket as kids, quit their day jobs in 2011 and started a now national events company, Nokturnl, which went on to deliver the biggest Oktoberfest gatherings in the country.
It was when they came across the vacant heritage buildings in Fremantle, around WA’s first synagogue, they decided to add a new dimension to their business.
“We both walked through and thought we could do something pretty awesome,” Drennan said.
“It’s not every day you get two state-heritage listed buildings on one property.”
The Beaufort is the latest venue from the duo to open in Perth.Credit: Shotbythom
The Old Synagogue was a hit and after surviving through the initial lockdowns of the pandemic the two friends saw a gap and opportunity for a similar large venue in the Highgate area.
“Everything is a risk and I guess we invested in the location more than anything. We saw the site as a prime site, Mount Lawley and Highgate, a great entertainment precinct,” Flanagan said.
“The last five or so years, you know, it’s probably gone through a little bit of a lull. But yeah, we saw a lot of value in where it was.
“And the concept we’ve done in Freo, we tried to take some elements from there, you can see some similarities here [at The Beaufort].
“We feel like we’re quite cautious and calculated with opportunities we do take so we look at a lot of things and don’t necessarily do 90 per cent of them.”
From a handful of employees running an events business, Flanagan and Drennan now have more than 300 staff across their businesses.
Drennan said the pair were enjoying their work and while there was no grand schemes in terms of a hospitality empire, they were always on the lookout for interesting opportunities.
“We’re not going to be pushing to do extra things. If a unique site comes up and we both feel that we’re on the same page we could do something cool with this, then we’ll go for it,” he said.
Another project they are going for is to develop the old South Perth police station at Finbar’s Civic Heart project.
An older concept image from Finbar of what its restaurant space at the Civic Heart project in South Perth could look like.Credit: Finbar
Civic Heart will be the tallest tower on the South Perth peninsula but down on the ground the site includes the old heritage building.
Drennan said the 500-person restaurant and pub would be a smaller venue than their other efforts.
“We’re going underground for the first time,” he said. “So we’re going to dig down and create an underground restaurant.
“It’s definitely a growth area ... there have got to be thousands of more people living in South Perth once all these buildings are finished.”
The project is the design phase but Flanagan said it would hopefully be completed towards the end of next year.
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