Historic Mentone Hotel to shine once again

12 April 2018

Kingston’s iconic Mentone Hotel will be restored and its doors open to the public once more.

Kingston Mayor Steve Staikos said he was thrilled that an agreement had been reached between the developer, community groups and Council that will ensure the iconic venue has a strong future.

“The Mentone Hotel will now be restored featuring a significant hospitality space to ensure the public can continue to enjoy the beautiful historic building,” Cr Staikos said.

“It’s great news that the developer has agreed to increase the public hospitality area and can now get to work on restoring the building and opening its doors to the community once more.”  

The matter had been set to be decided on by VCAT after Kingston Council refused a planning permit to develop the site with apartments and a small hospitality space.  The hearing has now been cancelled as agreement between all parties has been reached. 

Council had also previously refused to allow the site to be re-zoned to allow four-storey development at the site following strong objection from the community.

A Planning Permit will now be issued to allow for:

 Cr Staikos said that, under state heritage laws, the façade and internal staircase of the building must be preserved.

 “This is a great outcome for the community that will ensure the historic building is restored and that it will continue to serve as a key social community meeting point.”