Merivale Could Turn the Ivy Complex into a High-Rise Hotel

Recent pub purchases aside, Sydney hospitality group Merivale own some extremely valuable bits of the city's real estate. Of course, no one is more aware of that than CEO Justin Hemmes, who seemingly has bigger plans for capitalising on his CBD property, the Ivy.

The dining complex — which houses the Pool Club, restaurants Palings, Felix, Uccello and Ash St Cellar, and various event spaces — could be set for a total development. Details around what that will look like are still vague though. While The Daily Telegraph yesterday reported that the site will be knocked down to make way for a 55-storey hotel, an official statement from Merivale merely confirmed that the group is currently exploring "a number of options...including a new hotel, hospitality and lifestyle complex". According to Merivale, discussions have only been "preliminary" and "no final plans have been decided nor timelines set, and there are certainly no immediate plans to commence redevelopment of the site".

Merivale opened the Ivy back in 2007, and, while hugely expensive and ambitious, got a bad rep as the most violent venue in NSW. Things have since improved and Merivale has opened a slew of restaurants and pubs since then. Most recently, the group has opened Bert's at The Newport, Mr Liquor's Dirty Italian Disco at the recently acquired Tennyson Hotel, and taken over Hotel Centennial and The Vic on the Park.

The Ivy's regular venues and regular events — including its weekly Ministry of Sound nights — will continue to operate as usual. We'll keep an eye on this and publish any further announcements on the development of the site.