A real estate firm reckons the dodgy-as-heck demolition of Melbourne’s Corkman Irish Pub has essentially doubled the land’s value, which doesn’t exactly do much to dispel the notion the heritage-listed hotel was knocked down under flimsy pretences.
The 159-year-old building, located on the corner of Leicester and Pelham streets in Carlton, was reduced to rubble after sustaining fire damage. Critics have argued that damage wasn’t serious enough to necessitate its demolition, and that doing so may have seriously violated council protections.
Now, Savills Australia have told Fairfax the property would probs sell for between $8 million and $10 million in today’s market. That figure stands in pretty stark contrast to the $4.76 million developers Stefce Kutlesovski and Raman Shaqiri paid back in the latter part of 2014.
Despite the beaucoup bucks that are apparently now on offer, a representative of Savills delivered a pretty searing burn, saying the firm would “prefer to focus our resources on assisting our many highly reputable clients with their landholdings.”
So far, Fairfax’s attempts to contact
Shaq Demolitions – the firm responsible for the job, which is also half-owned by Shaqiri – have been fruitless.
Fairfax also spoke to Alf King, the pub’s previous owner, who said he fully expected the site to undergo redevelopment. King also said the developers mentioned their intention to turn the much-loved watering hole into apartments – which seems to be a reoccurring theme in Australia of late.
FWIW, a
petition calling on the
City of Melbourne to ensure the building’s full restoration has surged north of 17,000 signatures. We’ll keep you updated on whether the student haunt, which was
lovingly eulogised as
“something both more, and less, than a standard Irish uni pub,” is granted a miraculous second life.
