The Crown & Anchor Hotel in Grenfell Street, Adelaide can safely start the countdown to its last ever gig.
The iconic live music venue was acquired by property development group, Karidis Corporation, last month. Karidis is developing the adjacent site into a high-rise retail and residential development.
While Crown & Anchor is unlikely to be demolished as it's heritage listed, former owner Kevin Gregg told Adelaide Now that "to run a live music venue next to apartments would be difficult."
“We decided after amicable discussions with [Karidis] that we would sell it,” Mr Gregg said. “Inevitably apartments are going to be built there. He approached us and it was a prudent decision to make to sell to him.”
While the building may survive courtesy of its heritage-listed status, its live music outlook can't look anything but bleak with observations from outgoing owner Gregg such as, "the expectations of affluent Baby Boomers and career-minded executive couples [likely to occupy the adjacent development] are increasingly at odds with what a pub needs to provide to its audience to remain viable,” all but confirming a re-aligining of priorities for the venue.
