Surry Hills fire kills hotel dream
A hotel dream has gone up in flames after a Surry Hills heritage listed warehouse caught fire.
The location was to be the site of a $38 million hotel but was burnt to the ground by two 13-year-old teenagers who, with their parents, handed themselves into police.
The fire made national news as it closed the southern end of Sydney CBD.
Multiple other teens are still wanted for questioning by police.
The old hat factory was to be turned into a trendy hotel after six years of planning and design work had been finalised.
“Investigators are appealing for them – and their parents or carers – to come forward as soon as possible,” a statement said on Friday afternoon.
Two homeless people who may have been in the building are still unaccounted for.
The plans for the hotel were submitted to the City of Sydney in 2019 by Developer Hanave Pty Ltd.
Hanave planned to turn the site into a $38 million, nine-storey hotel with 123 rooms, two restaurants, a bar and a cafe.
The property was to be designed by architect Tim Greer, a director at Tonkin Zulaikha Greer.
The project was set to move into its construction phase.
“We’re all just absolutely devastated. I’ve found it strangely emotional,” Greer said on Friday.
“The family who owned the building had a dream of turning it into a hotel. All that thinking and incredibly hard work to get it to the point to hand over to the builders to work their magic.
“It’s all ended. It’s just gone.”
Greer was looking forward to turning the “incredibly beautiful, Victorian, Surry Hills warehouse” into a hotel that pay tribute to the area’s history and breathe life into Randle Street.
“There are three buildings on the site and the heritage view was that the middle building was the one to retain. The irony is that the building that burns down is the one we wanted to keep,” Greer said.
Police are still trying to contact the owners of the building.
“As to where we go from here, who knows?” Greer said.
Jonathan Jackson, 29th May 2023
