JeeBee wrote:I don't see any reason yet to not think that the pub will get refitted and re-opened once the site becomes accessible. It might not be the biggest pub in the world, but maybe it will be a nice one because of it.
I'm with you JeeBee, we all want a pub, so I'm keeping positive on this. It doesn't have to be massive anyway, if I remember rightly the inside of the pub was quite large beforehand, although some of the space is being lost I think there is plenty of space for a nice boozer. I'm sure they have their reasons for not working on it yet, I'm sure it will be a hell of a lot easier to carry out work when the flats are nearly completed.
G Man
I very much hope you are correct. The Pub space now will be a lot less than the former Pub.
I suppose the kitchens could be upstairs.
Whole thing seems very strange. If they have purchased the building , as I understand , but they are saying they need to wait and see what work requires to be done , these two statements together do not make buisness sense.
It beggars belief that you would make a large purchase without surveying the building and also working out exactly how much money would need to be spent.
Eagle wrote:Whole thing seems very strange. If they have purchased the building , as I understand , but they are saying they need to wait and see what work requires to be done , these two statements together do not make buisness sense.
I too found that statement from Antic strange. Who would buy a property without having established what work needed doing to it and how much needed spending on refurbishment in a business model ? Why cant work be carried internally now ? Why are Acorn still marketing it, " on behalf of the owners" ?
These questions are not being gloomy or negative but are genuine concerns, one would have thought Antic would be keen to be up and running in the pub they " own " leading up to Christmas ?
Antic have been expanding rapildy in recent years and have other new openings planned that are also behind scedule. The Ravensbourne Arms is now open I hear and they recently opened a new pub in Streatham. The Sylvan Post was supposed to be open by now, but isn't yet. I should imagine that, like all pub companies, they are experiencing difficult trading and the effect on their finances means they cant press ahead as quickly as they would like.
Dorian, I should imagine that Antic are only so far down the line on completing the deal and, in the absence of any retail yet confirmed, the developers are putting out feelers and perhaps applying some pressure to expidite matters. It doesn't cost much, or anything, to ask Acorn to list it as for sale and there may even be some interest.
If I were a betting man, I would say it is odds on that Antic will run a pub there, eventually.
Dorian wrote:
These questions are not being gloomy or negative but are genuine concerns, one would have thought Antic would be keen to be up and running in the pub they " own " leading up to Christmas ?
There's no way those flats will be finished by Christmas given their current state. As the pub is within the development square, I'm sure access to it won't be until it is safe. As the pub won't be ready by Christmas or the New Year, I guess there isn't a massive rush for Antic to get the refurbishment done (better to put the resources elsewhere to ensure another pub does hit Christmas and New Year). I expect the pub will be ready by February or March at the earliest.
So when does a restoration become a fake. There is no roof, no internal walls or ceilings, most of the windows are gone as has the whole of the back wall along with I think most of the external woodwork. How much of the original building that was supposed to have been saved is left is therefore somewhat in doubt!
If it recreates what was there and uses or reuses as much of the original as possible then I'd say good job. Antic are brilliant at this, if anyone can do the building justice and create a great pub, it's them.
The council should really do a local shopping survey to see how people shop and how long they need/stay/what they are prepared to pay.
We have discussed this in other areas with traders and councils. I don't understand why they don't do it, imposing a borough wide parking policy isn't common sense. Councils are guilty of treating all areas in their district the same. They aren't and should look, feel and act differently (Lewisham, ditch your council branding guidlines, they are wrong).
