A Canberra club wants to change the use of a neighbouring building in what could be seen as a diversification bid ahead of intensified competition from the Canberra Casino.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The Canberra Labor Club, which is controlled by the ACT Labor Party, has applied to vary the Crown lease of the former Westpac building next to its city club to allow shops, restaurants, bars or a gym to be built there.
The club's chief executive Arthur Roufogalis said via email the move would allow a wider range of tenants to consider the vacant area. He failed to answer questions as to whether the lease variation could facilitate a Labor Club expansion or move.
The three-storey, 599-square-metre building sits on the corner of Petrie Plaza and City Walk in Civic, next to the city Labor Club.
The Labor Club does not own its city club premises - they are owned by property developers, the Katheklakis family and the Sarris family, through three different registered companies.
Peter Sarris co-owns developer Crafted, which is also building the Capitol in London Circuit, and built the Prince apartment building in Kingston. The Katheklakis family owns a number of office blocks and commercial properties, including the city Hellenic Club building.
The Westpac building current lease says the land must be used for a bank, offices, insurance offices, consulting rooms or offices of similar character, a caretakers' residence or a club.
But the Labor Club wants to expand the uses of the building, by allowing it to accommodate a bar, a cinema or theatre, a gym or sports centre, a restaurant or shops as well.
The application said the proposal would "not affect or diminish the range of community or recreational facilities on site".
"The additional uses are likely to reinforce the viability of surrounding community and recreational facilities due to increased pedestrian traffic along Petrie Plaza and City Walk," the application reads.
"As the proposed uses are restricted to ground floor only, immediate exposure to nearby recreational and/or community facilities are likely to be further sustained by increased foot traffic along both City Walk and Petrie Plaza."
The club also applied for the building to be able to be used for education purposes.
The application said the size and location of the building meant it was not suitable for a pre-school, primary or high school, but it could be used for vocational colleges or other small, independent tertiary education providers.
A valuation of the building by Colliers International suggested the Crown lease variation would only add $50,000 of value to the building, bringing its total worth to $2.3 million.
That would mean the club would pay a lease variation charge of $37,500.
The Westpac branch closed on November 10 and has since moved further along Petrie Plaza to become part of the Canberra Centre. While a sign on the window said the branch was closed for renovations and would reopen on November 15, an employee of the bank said the move to the Canberra Centre was permanent and the new space better suited their needs.
As well as Westpac, the building houses health consulting rooms and Volunteering and Contact ACT. A spokeswoman for Volunteering and Contact ACT had no further information about the proposal.
Unlike many other clubs in Canberra, the Labor Club's gaming revenue has remained relatively consistent in the past decade.
While the Labor Club Group does not publicly release its annual reports, figures from the ACT Gambling and Racing Commission reveal it made more than $24 million in 2016-17 from its poker machines, the third highest turnover in the ACT.
It made $49,190 per machine, the highest in the territory.
But with its proximity to Canberra Casino, which was cleared to install poker machines under certain conditions last year, it's the club that stands to lose the most.
The Canberra Casino recorded a bumper year in 2017, with its total visit numbers 21 per cent higher than 2016 figures and 29 per cent higher than 2014 figures, which was before Aquis Entertainment bought it.
The Labor Club Group has launched two major redevelopment bids in the last two years.
Other Canberra clubs have moved in the past few months to maximise what assets they have to shore up their future in the wake of falling gaming revenue.
In December, the Yowani Country Club announced plans to build up to 1200 homes on the eastern edge of its golf course where the clubhouse and car park now stand.
The cash-strapped Woden Tradies Union Club sold for $16 million to local developer Geocon last August. The club shut its doors at the beginning of the year.
