Victory Hotel’s beer garden to be converted into gaming room

One of Brisbane’s most famous beer gardens will soon make way for pokies – but the group behind the Victory Hotel’s long-awaited and impending redevelopment has assured regulars it will be temporary.

The old pub, on the corner of Edward and Charlotte streets, is about to undergo a multimillion-dollar refurbishment, with work to start in the coming weeks.

Precision Group leasing executive Rory O’Brien told this masthead the beer garden would make way for gaming for about 18 months during the Victory’s redevelopment.

“It’s hard to tell exactly [how long], because through our excavation stages, we’re really digging out the basement of the hotel that’s been there since the 1850s – you don’t know what you’re going to come across,” he said.

“Then we need to reconstitute some footings down there to make sure that it can stand the structure for another 150 years.”

The historic hotel, built in 1855, is the oldest remaining pub in the Brisbane CBD.

Its planned refurbishment included the return of its upper-floor balconies, a new rooftop bar, and a speakeasy in the basement.

The construction of the temporary gaming room, which would be built under the existing beer garden roof, would mark the start of work on the venue’s refurbishment.

“Once we cycle through really excavating the hotel, making an area for the gaming downstairs next to the speakeasy, having the sports bar and open bar facility up on ground [level], restaurant on [level] one, the rooftop beer garden – once the extent of that is complete, we’ll then shut down that temporary gaming facility and turn our mind to enhancing the outdoor area,” he said.

“It’s really part of Brisbane’s vernacular, right? So we’re excited to do something special in that beer garden.”

But despite the new look, O’Brien said he was determined the venue would not lose sight of its roots.

“It’s the type of beer garden where you go into and you can see labourers in there – guys with tatts on their neck – alongside solicitors, lawyers and accountants,” he said.

“It’s a place where everyone in Brisbane feels comfortable going and having a beer in the beer garden and we’re very conscious of its importance.”

The famous pub almost closed its doors for good in 2023, after the Woolworths-owned Australian Hospitality and Liquor Group did not renew its lease.

However, Precision Group found a new operator shortly afterwards, when Athena Group signed on as the new long-term lessee.

In 2008, a blaze at the pub resulted in the hospitalisation of seven patrons and the evacuation of hundreds more.

“It’s a landmark site, and it needs a fair bit of love,” O’Brien said.

“And when I say ‘love’, it needs a lot of capital and you need to do it in a way that’s sensitive to its heritage, context and construct.

“It’s challenging, to be quite frank with you, but we’re really, really, really excited about what it’s going to look like.”

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