Welcome, it’s Adrian Bo from Ray White Park Coast Eastern Suburbs, and today I’m on the corner of McKeon Street and Marine Parade in Maroubra to talk about one of the local iconic institutions in the area. The Maroubra Bay Hotel was opened 96 years ago in 1926 by retired army officer, George Hammond. Hammond had already been running the Doncaster Hotel nearby in Kensington and fought strong opposition at the time to establishing this property on a huge corner block. Maroubra beach was growing as a destination for tourists and visitors and the local residential population was also increasing. However, as reported in the newspaper of the time, the Labour Daily, Hammond had originally been turned down by the licencing court and had to go to the Supreme Court to get his licencing application rejection overturned. Representing Hammond as a witness in the court case, Herbert Dudley who had been instrumental in the growth of Maroubra as a real estate agent and auctioneer, said the following, and I quote, “The influence of a big hotel here would increase the land value by at least 50%.

The population of Maroubra has greatly increased lately. There are no facilities for country or city people to come down and board at Maroubra which is a desirable resort in the summer months”. There was certainly a lot of push back from the local police which turned out to be well warranted as continual brawls, stabbings and general violence evolved. The 26 room hotel had a thriving bar from day one of trade and to say at some stages of it’s history it has had a rowdy reputation would be an understatement, but it also became a great rock music venue, INXS played here with frontman Michael Hutchence in 1980 as well as The Honeydrippers with former Led Zeppelin singer Robert Plant and many of Australia’s best rock bands had gigs here along with plenty from overseas as well. The hotel has undergone substantial refurbishments over the last two decades, including a renaming to The Bay Hotel & Diner, and the restaurant gets great reviews for all its quality pub meals. Troy Graham and Brendan Devlin run a quality operation now that is at the heart of the Maroubra community. In fact, one of the highlights early on in my career was selling the Maroubra Bay Hotel in 1995 off market for $2.5 million, which was a premium price at that time.

I recently reported the plans to transform McKeon Street into a pedestrian-friendly plaza over the coming months, it will be interesting to see how that evolves. According to the records, there are 174 units and 20 houses on McKeon Street with 45% being owner occupied and 55% being rentals. The average owner occupier on McKeon Street has been here for eight years and 11 months. Over the past 12 months, there have been six sales on McKeon Street, the highest price being $1,275,000 for a two bedroom at 3/6 McKeon Street. I’ve sold many apartments and houses in Maroubra over the years. More recently, 8 Bond Street, a five-bedroom house for $6.025 million, 14 Little Street, a six-bedroom home for $4.95 million and unit 46A at 17 Green Street, a one-bedroom apartment for $635,000 as well as Unit 6 at 62 Marine Parade. I’m always delighted to provide valuations of property, so if you’d like to discuss that, please give me a call on 0418-278-316, or email me at adrian.bo@raywhite.com. The Bra, as it’s known, is where I grew up and always will be an iconic part of Sydney, with the suburb also grown up during the life of the Maroubra Bay Hotel, and so i think remembering how this pub came to be despite initial resistance is really important. Keep smiling, and always remember, your home is worth more with Adrian Bo.