Decaying city heritage pub for sale after tower plan falls over
The state heritage-listed King’s Head Hotel stands vacant and dilapidated after shutting down for a failed 16-storey tower project. Now the pub and former live music venue is back on the market.
The King’s Head, on the corner of King William and Sturt Street, shut its doors on April 30, 2023, to allow construction of a 16-storey hotel under the “Ramada by Wyndham” brand.
The project was granted planning approval in July 2022, with variations to the plan ticked off in July 2023. The developers said at the time they would begin work on the tower in January 2024 and complete it by December 2024.
But no construction occurred, except for demolition of the pub’s two-storey rear wing and kitchen.
The building is now marked with graffiti and bird droppings, with cracked and boarded-up windows, a damaged rear wall and a mess of construction material in its backyard.
The pub was put up for sale on Wednesday.
The sale is listed via “mortgagee in possession”, indicating the King’s Head land has been repossessed from owner Patrick Marcucci.
RWC Adelaide managing partner Oliver Totani, who is managing the sale, said he was selling the property on behalf of the mortgagee and not Marcucci.
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Asked about the 16-storey hotel development, Totani said the developers “found a few challenges getting it off the ground, so we’ve now been instructed to put it on the market”.
“I think there’s solid demand from hotel and accommodation operators, so there’s every chance that the development gets off the ground,” he said.
“It probably won’t be with this developer or the current owner, it’ll probably be under someone else’s stewardship.”
Asked about the current condition of the King’s Head Hotel, Totani said: “The old pub building which is heritage listed was essentially getting ready to start construction.”
“So the property has been in that state for some time,” he said.
“Any time that a construction site stalls, those offenders usually get on site and make it a bit of a mess.”
InDaily asked Marcucci about the state of the King’s Head and its listing for sale. In a texted statement, he replied: “Sorry I’m not able to comment as per a non disclosure agreement.”
“But I can say re the Kings Head pub we tried our best during the Covid times to get it up and running again and to make it a special place which it deserves,” he said.
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“Hopefully it will get up and running as soon as possible and whoever acquires it will do it justice and continue with the Kings Head Hotel of old.
“The Kings Head story will live on into the future because State Heritage will make sure that it’s protected.”
Marcucci later called to say he installed a fence around the King’s Head Hotel last week to protect the site from vandals and graffiti.
“I still care about that place obviously very deeply but I can’t change the situation,” he said, adding he still hoped to be a part of the pub in some form.
“I love the place, my life was there for four years and we’ve got a lot of good memories and friends.”
Marcucci lodged the original 16-storey tower development application in March 2022 via a company named Cucci Investments Pty Ltd, which he is listed as a director of.
The company is now facing a windup application in the Federal Court from an Adelaide-based entity called Corporate Finance Exchange Pty Ltd. Marcucci said the windup application regards “a totally separate entity and will be settled between the parties”.
The matter is set down for a hearing in the Federal Court on October 15.
The failure of the King’s Head development comes amid increasing scrutiny from the state government about the maintenance of privately owned state heritage buildings.
Parliament in August passed a bill beefing up compliance measures and penalties for private owners of listed buildings, after a Greens push to prevent so-called “demolition by neglect”.
The King’s Head Hotel was built in 1876 and was previously an active live music venue on Friday and Saturday nights, even hosting a DJ performance from now-Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
The pub was also once the stomping ground for the original 1960s line up of iconic Australian rock group, The Masters Apprentices, which rehearsed in the pub’s back shed. The group performed a farewell gig at the venue the night before it shut its doors.
The condition of the King’s Head has frustrated heritage and live music advocates on social media, who’ve likened the situation to other CBD pubs that closed down for development like the former Queens Arms on Wright Street and the Edinburgh Castle Hotel on Currie Street.
Asked about public anger over the state of King’s Head, Totani said: “I mean the reality is it’s owned. We have private ownership rights in Australia and it’s owned by someone.”
“I think now that it’s for sale, the next owners you would have thought are going to spend a lot of money to acquire the property and therefore you would have thought they would make the relevant investments to bring it back to life,” he said.
“In what iteration or what life that looks like, it’s too early to tell.”
