Popular Inner-West Sydney brewer Young Henrys is already looking for a new home after a development application (DA) was lodged with Inner-West Council to demolish the existing site at 76 Wilford Street, Newtown, and build a six-storey block with 40 apartments.
The application was lodged on 30 May by Sydney-based architecture studio, Loucas Architects, with the new building to also include a ground floor commercial area and two levels of basement car parking.
Speaking to Beer & Brewer, Young Henrys Co-Founder, Oscar McMahon, said that he and fellow owners Richard Adamson and Dan Hampton were not surprised by the news.
“We’ve always known that it would happen eventually, this is an old property in a super-valuable area – of course it’s going to get turned into apartments,” McMahon said. “It’s a high-density area and there’s 15 years of affordable housing built into the DA, and I’m all for that.
“We’re not blindsided by this, our landlord has kept us abreast of everything as it’s gone along, and it’s just that the time has come.
“It’s actually been really lovely getting this fucking outpouring of sentiment from people: it’s nice that it means something to people, which is awesome.”
And while the team were not blindsided, and it’s never easy to leave home, McMahon said the team are looking forward at what is next for the brewery.
“We’re moving out of the family home, but it does give us opportunities. We’re 13 years old and this allows us to rethink things and get things fit-for-purpose with the current operations of the business. That’s something that businesses do often anyway, so it will end up being a positive, I’m sure.”
McMahon told Beer & Brewer that because they have been in discussions with the owner about plans for the site, they have already been looking at where they will open next, and inner-west fans will be happy to learn the team are hoping not to go too far.
“We’ve been looking around for probably five or six months and we haven’t landed on the exact spot yet, but we’ve got a few pretty good concepts. The things that we are sure on is our dedication to Newtown-Enmore; our dedication to having a forward-facing part where our customers can come, and things like our meeting place, brand touchpoints and that production is a must – that’s a very important part of our business.”
Looking at the more immediate future, McMahon wanted to thank the fans and said to come down to the brewery and have a beer with the team.
“Our message to anyone who is a Young Henrys fan is thank you so much,” he said. “We thoroughly appreciate the support and care and we are looking forward to bringing everyone along for the next phase as well.”
He added: “We were laughing about this because we always thought that we’d be the ones that demolished this place. Look, there will be a final week: there will be noise complaints.”
The DA is on notification until 26 June 2025, and the Inner West Council currently states that it aims for a streamlined DA process, with goals to determine simple DAs within three to six months and complex DAs within nine to 12 months, so there’s still some time to get to Wilford Street and enjoy a beer with the team.