Hobart’s Brisbane Hotel plagued by crime as redevelopment plans stall
A once-prominent Hobart hotel has reportedly become a hotspot for illegal activity, with residents expressing growing concerns for their safety. Despite ambitious redevelopment plans by its owner, David Marriner, The Brisbane Hotel in Brisbane Street is now described by locals as a “drug corner”.
Marriner recently invested $27 million in acquiring the Norske Skog paper mill at Boyer with the intention of transforming it into a live music venue and has his sights set on a similar revival for the Brisbane Hotel. However, these plans are currently on hold as he awaits the title for an adjacent piece of land.
Meanwhile, nearby residents paint a starkly different picture of the current state of the hotel and surrounding abandoned properties. Hannah Sutton, a local resident, stated that the area has become "a popular site for vagrancy, trespassing, violent behaviour and drug dealing," highlighting the community's anxieties over the escalating issues. The stalled redevelopment leaves the once-thriving hotel in limbo, much to the dismay of residents who fear the ongoing impact of the alleged criminal activity on their neighbourhood.
“The issues are often due to local kids trespassing but also due to violent and problematic behaviours from people squatting in the Brisbane and abandoned areas,” Sutton said.
“We have had to deal with destruction of our property, an attempted break in, squatters dealing weed to children and even running a meth lab, fires lit in the hotel, dumping of stolen property, people urinating and threats to our personal safety.
“It has been an incredibly confronting and scary time, not only do we often feel unsafe, we have had to pay out of our own pockets for security systems and gate repairs etc.
“Our real estate and the local police have been extremely supportive and empathetic, but we have been told by the police that no action can be taken to fix this issue or remove trespassers unless it comes from the owner.”
Sutton has lived in the area for three years, but says the issues are escalating.
“I understand that David, the owner, has come across some roadblocks in getting the site approved for renovation, however at the very least we feel it needs to be cleaned up and boarded up or secured in some way to prevent all this activity, especially because it is spilling over into other private properties and threatening our safety,” she said.
“We also have neighbours who are experiencing the same issues and concerns for (their) safety.”
Marriner also expressed his disappointment.
“It has become the drug corner of Hobart,” he said.
“It is always being vandalised, there’s graffiti and it is broken into. There are squatters there. It’s terrible and we can’t fix it.
“It has been an unbelievable saga – it should have been up and running years ago.
“Techne, a leading Australian architectural firm with significant experience in the live hospitality space, have been engaged on this project for the past two years.”
Marriner held a pre-application planning meeting with the Hobart City Council more than a year ago.
“The issues that we are currently facing is that our plans maximise the property footprint which includes a small section of a right of way at the back of the property,” he said.
“The titles office cannot identify who the legal owner is of this right of way and as such, our lawyers (Murdoch Clarke) have been searching title archive records to identify the current owner/beneficiary of this land.
“This is an extremely tedious process which is holding up progress with the development which is an outstanding design.”
Despite the dilapidated state of the hotel, Marriner is confident he can revive it as a live music venue.
Jonathan Jackson, 8th April 2025
