Chippendale venue up for lease as Freda's Bar gets set to close
The main bar area and a separate basement performance space are up for lease. Photo: Supplied

Chippendale venue with rare 4am licence up for lease as Freda's Bar gets set to close

The leasing campaign for the Chippendale space soon to be vacated by live music hangout Freda’s Bar has kicked off, with agents touting the property’s rare 4am liquor licence as a key attraction for future operators.

The owners of Freda’s Bar, which has been operating from a former warehouse at 107-109 Regent Street for nine years, announced they would be closing their doors on November 21 in a press release issued earlier this month.

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The bar had survived the lockout laws but was forced to close because of COVID. Photo: Supplied

The owners cited the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on the hospitality industry as one of the reasons for the closure.

“After surviving five years of lockouts, red tape, rising rents and an exodus of youth from the city centre, Freda’s had finally been flourishing after receiving one of Sydney’s first 4am licences (outside the casino) since the heady days of the Olympics. We had been looking forward to by far our most successful and stable year ever. Boy were we wrong,” owner David Abram said in the release, which was issued via the bar’s Facebook page.

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The property is located at 107-109 Regent Street in Chippendale. Photo: Supplied

The bar had been a well-known hotspot for up-and-coming musicians and DJs and had previously been featured in Vivid Sydney festival programming.

The leasing deal includes 147 square metres of DA-approved basement function space as well as 232 square metres of ground-floor retail use inclusive of bar facilities and a stage area, according to listing agent James Cowan, of Colliers International.

Mr Cowan said interest in the property, which has a 120 person capacity, was likely to be strong with operators keen to tap into what was expected to be a boom in the number of Sydneysiders spending their money locally over the summer months.

“We’ve been inundated with interest from a wide variety of industries and, through a pre-market sounding, registered 20 parties looking to inspect. We’re finding that operators see value in opening hospitality venues in the suburbs, particularly given circa $20 billion is expected to be recycled locally this year over the Christmas period rather than being spent on overseas holidays,” Mr Cowan said.

The property is being offered for long term tenants on a rental of “less than $500 per square metre per annum gross” according to the firm. It is available from January.

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