Oxford Street's Kinselas and Courthouse Hotels Are Set to Be Merged Into One Mega-Venue

Oxford Street's Taylor Square is set for a revamp after Moelis Australia acquired neighbouring venues the Kinselas Hotel and the Courthouse Hotel in a $67 million deal. The private equity firm has revealed the purchase of the adjoining properties is part of a plan to combine them to create a singular Taylor Square hospitality precinct.

Moelis currently owns several venues, including the Beach Hotel in Byron Bay, which it reportedly bought for more than $100 million late last year, and the Australian Brewery.

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, both the Kinselas Hotel and the Courthouse Hotel were hotspots for late-night visitors to Oxford Street. The three-level Kinselas, which was once a funeral parlour, includes the top-level bowling ally and nightclub The Standard Bowl, the aptly titled second-level Middlebar and Johnny Wong's Dumpling Bar.

Jan Smith via Flickr

The Courthouse Hotel has been an Oxford Street stalwart for decades. The sale of the Darlinghurst venue is its first in 30 years.

"The Courthouse has to be one of the most recognisable pubs in Sydney," said Dan Dragicevich of HTL Property who brokered the deal with Moelis Australia. "The widely held view is that Oxford Street is in for a renaissance in the years to come as astute investment houses and developers seek a foothold in what will be the city's only 24-hour precinct following the reshaping of the lockout laws."

Moelis Australia Hotel Management CEO Dan Brady sited the repealing of Sydney's lockout laws in January and the City of Sydney's plan to revitalise nightlife and the creative industries as influencing factors in the purchase of the venues. In the past twelve months, the City of Sydney has announced plans to reignite the nightlife in Kings Cross and Oxford Street, while the NSW Government has scrapped several archaic laws surrounding liquor licenses and live music.

The settlement for both hotels is expected to occur in February 2021.

The Kinselas Hotel is located at 383 Bourke Street, Darlinghurst and the Courthouse Hotel is located at 189 Oxford Street, Darlinghurst.