Former Foresters' Hall is for lease in Fortitude Valley
One of Fortitude Valley’s largest hospitality venues is entering its next chapter, with the former Foresters’ Hall at 209 Brunswick Street now available for lease.
The building has been entertaining the Valley in one form or another for almost 150 years. Designed by prominent Brisbane architect John Richard Hall and opened in 1880, it began as the meeting place of Court Fortitude, the local branch of the Ancient Order of Foresters.
The friendly society provided financial and social support to working-class members and their families, while its hall hosted balls, concerts and public meetings. In 1910 it became Cook’s Picture Palace, Fortitude Valley’s first picture theatre, while later chapters included a billiard saloon, cabaret hall, nightclub and live-music venue.
The next big hospitality destination of Fortitude Valley
The heritage-listed venue forms part of the base of the FV by Peppers residential and hotel development. It spans approximately 860 square metres across two trading areas that include a 581-square-metre ground-floor restaurant and function space, along with a 279-square-metre rooftop bar.
The ground floor includes a large exhaust and canopy system, a fitted bar, walk-in cool room and an independently accessible function space with its own street frontage. An internal lift links the restaurant to the rooftop, while a separate street-access lift allows the upper level to operate independently.
Upstairs, the rooftop already contains a bar, cool room, keg and premix lines, plus an outdoor entertainment system and large screen. The fitout gives an incoming tenant a head start to launch one of the area’s new go-to nightlife destinations. However, the former operator’s food and liquor licences did not remain with the premises.
Therefore, any rooftop capacity, trading hours, noise conditions and entertainment permissions would depend on approvals. Comparable Fortitude Valley rooftops commonly close between 11.30pm and 1am.
Experienced operators anticipated to become new tenants
The property was only listed last week, and enquiries are coming from experienced and expanding operators, entertainment groups and institutional-quality restaurant businesses.
The landlord is seeking an experienced hospitality or entertainment tenant on a minimum five-year lease and is open to discussing a contribution towards the incoming operator’s fitout. The premises are available immediately, with rent by negotiation.
“209 Brunswick Street offers an incoming operator something increasingly difficult to replicate in Brisbane: genuine heritage character, a substantial hospitality footprint and an existing rooftop offering, all within the heart of the Valley,” says Cushman & Wakefield director of retail leasing Guy Stafford.
“For the right operator, there is an opportunity to focus capital on creating the concept, experience and identity of the venue rather than rebuilding the fundamentals.”
Cushman & Wakefield retail leasing manager Liam Ghietti adds that this is a rare opportunity in the Brisbane commercial market.
“The building’s rooftop bar, combined with its architectural heritage and sense of established character, gives hospitality and nightlife operators something genuinely rare in this part of the Valley,” he says.
“With the Valley Metro upgrades and a wave of new restaurants and concepts landing in the precinct, we expect strong interest from the market.”
The property is about 350 metres from Fortitude Valley station and Valley Metro, and about 550 metres from Brunswick Street Mall. The station and Valley Metro precinct service more than 30,000 commuters and visitors a day, while almost 28,000 people work across Fortitude Valley.
