I heard from The Mayor that The Hub's development application has been rejected by the council. As such, it's now for lease, either long or short term, pending resolution of the DA issues, and I imagine an improvement in economic conditions.
At the very least this gives us a bit of a view inside. I've never been inside: it was an adult theatre when I moved into Newtown in the early 1990s, and since that closed I've never seen it open for any reason. Since it would be an amazing space for the emerging Sydney Hackerspace project, I thought I'd contact the estate agent and see what they wanted for it.
Now we know why it's vacant, and has been for so long. On a three year lease (with three year option) they want $350,000 a year (ex-GST), of nearly $7,000 a week! On a short term lease they want $5,000 a week (ex-GST). Yeesh! No wonder the place is empty. It's a brilliant space, but I can't think of many businesses that would be able to justify that, without some fairly major redevelopment -- which is exactly what the council has rejected.
It's a shame, as it's an absolutely brilliant space.
While trawling through this I did find a DA for someone planning to turn the old shop corner building next to it, on the corner of Bedford and Denison, into a cafe. Looks quite cool.