Ipswich City Council has already spent $6.2 million restoring the historic building. A deal is being worked out with a ‘very successful and known’ hotel operator to come on board.
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WORKS to restore an 111-year-old pub in the Ipswich CBD have been completed but the focus has now turned to what will fill the historic building.
An extension to the Commonwealth Hotel could be on the cards to accommodate a hotelier once again with the current footprint deemed too small to make a modern operation viable.
The building, also known as Murphy’s Town Pub, was bought by council-controlled entity Ipswich City Properties in 2014 and was identified as unsafe for occupancy in 2015. The Commonwealth Hotel in the Ipswich CBD.
Division 3 councillor and Ipswich Central Redevelopment Committee chair Marnie Doyle said so far about $6.2 million had been spent by the council on the restoration.
THERE was one thing that stood out for me in our story this week with former Ipswich state MP Rachel Nolan and her view on the past, present and future of her city.
As she reflected on her own time as an MP, her relationship with former mayor Paul Pisasale and the dramatic changes that have occurred in the past four or five years, Ms Nolan commented that she believed Ipswich was at a critical point in shaping its future.
I’m sure this comment resonated with a lot of readers as there has been a feeling of ground zero – both literally and metaphorically – since our entire council was dismissed and our city centre was gutted and rebuilt.
Talks with retail brands to set up in the overhauled CBD are progressing and ‘significant players’ in the cinema industry are eager to take over the complex in the city centre
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IPSWICH City Council received “several” submissions from prospective tenants keen to take over its upgraded CBD cinema complex but an operator won’t be locked in for at least another six months.
The council launched an expressions of interest campaign in January to find a business to manage the site formerly filled by Birch, Carroll and Coyle.
This closed on March 12.
It seemed at one state United Cinemas would take over the facility but rejected leasing the building late last year.
The massive financial impact of COVID-19 on the cinema industry was flagged as the reason for the decision, with businesses wanting to settle on a management agreement over a lease agreement in the current financial climate.