Category: For decades, Bayswater Road — the Potts Point strip that clubs like World Bar and Candy’s Apartment call home — has been one of Sydney’s busiest nightlife hotspots.
But property developers say a new era is about to dawn on the precinct, with Bayswater Road now branded one of the city’s “most aspirational” places to live — not party.
The comments were made after four adjoining terraces on the street sold for a staggering $18 million dollars last week, only 18 months after they were originally purchased for $12 million. The terraces run from numbers 20 to 26 along Bayswater Road, and encompass World Bar and Candy’s.
They were bought by Sydney development firm Greencliff, who said in a statement that the acquisition was an “investment in an urban area ready for regeneration.”
“Bayswater Road is well and truly in the midst of transformation,” Greencliff Executive Chairman Dr Stanley Quek told Commercial Real Estate. “It will become one of the city’s most aspirational destinations to live, offering a sophisticated, exclusive inner-city lifestyle.”
That “transformation” is almost entirely due to the introduction of the lockout laws in 2014, which have caused an 80 per cent reduction in foot traffic in the area and resulted in the closures of venues such as Backroom, Soho, Hugo’s, The Flinders, Trademark, The Bourbon and Q-Bar.
Quek’s comments have been echoed by a number of developers in the area over the last two years. In February this year, hotel proprietor Jane Tuner openly thanked the controversial laws for their impact on the suburb: “I think the lockout laws will be a positive for our new operation in Sydney,” Turner told the Australian Financial Review. “I’m very happy about the lockout laws as they will clean up and quieten the streets.”
Thankfully, World Bar’s lease won’t end for another 22 years, so the beloved nightspot is safe for now.
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