Bennetts Lane Jazz Club reborn behind Hyatt
Melbourne’s Bennetts Lane Jazz Club is set to reopen in a new venue behind the Grand Hyatt Hotel.
Developer and theatre owner David Marriner, who operates the Forum, Regent and Princess theatres, will convert a space at the rear of the Hyatt building on Flinders Lane into a 260-pax nightclub and jazz venue.
The approved plans include a cafe facing Flinders Lane on the ground floor with the main jazz club on the first floor to be in a refitted space once occupied by the former Monsoons nightclub. A small rooftop deck and balcony will sit above that.
“The built form will sit comfortably against the background of the Grand Hyatt Hotel and will turn a currently unattractive ‘back of house’ into an attractive, friendly and active frontage to Flinders Lane,” the plans stated.
The Grand Hyatt hotel is jointly owned by the family of wealthy Indonesian industrialist Sjamsul Nursalim and Morgan Stanley Real Estate, who objected to the original plans. They have 28 days to lodge an appeal against the City of Melbourne’s final decision.
Sheridan Randall, 1st August 2019
