Colombian, Oxford Street - a photo on Flickriver

            This is the corner of Oxford Street and Crown Street in Darlinghurst on a quiet Sunday night - the main throughfare for the annual Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras parade. 

The Colombian, once a Westpac Bank branch, has been a late night party place over two decades, lately equipped with a rooftop bar. 

The venue was purchased by David McHugh for $6.7 million in 2011 and when he moved overseas it sold to Sam Arnaout's Iris Capital for about $18 million in late 2016.

The construction on the left of the photo is part of a $200 million redevelopment of three blocks along Oxford Street's north side between Taylor Square and Riley Street. Its completion will remove a scar on the landscape. 

The most recent plans include a 75-room boutique hotel, 9,200 square metres of office space and another 2,300 square metres of retail as part of the Oxford & Foley development by real estate investment group AsheMorgan, which holds a 99-year lease from the City of Sydney obtained in 2019, working with developer Toga. AsheMorgan's website mentions it has signed two tenants, Dovetail and Lune, but completion 'planned for 2023' looks further off. 

It's a bit hard to see the future for Darlinghurst, which has historically been a poor area but its resident creative people in practically every field have made a big cultural contribution, and it's still the heart of the gay community and its clubbing culture. The area hasn't kept up, exacerbated by the NSW government's lockout laws, so development is welcome but...this is a big picture project....let's hope new money breathes life into the area without sending it on the way to becoming another North Sydney!

Taken in: Australia / New South Wales / Darlinghurst (show map)

Taken on: October 22, 2023

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Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras « less

Sets appears in: • Darlinghurst and Kings Cross (Sydney)

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Camera: Sony ILCE-7M3, f/3.2, 1/60 sec, 27mm, ISO 250 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Sony ILCE-7M3
Lens:	FE 24-70mm F2.8 GM
Aperture:	f/3.2
Exposure Time:	0.017 sec (1/60)
Focal Length:	27mm
ISO:	250
Exposure Bias:	0 EV
Flash:	Off, Did not fire
Exposure Program:	Manual
Exposure Mode:	Manual
Metering Mode:	Multi-segment
White Balance:	Auto
Contrast:	High
Saturation:	High
Color Space:	sRGB
Software:	Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic 13.0.1 (Windows)
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