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New life for Palais site as KFC

BY SARAH-KATE SCICLUNA

22/11/2008 4:00:00 AM

IT was once renowned as a place of romance and rendezvous but the former Palais Royale site in Newcastle West will now house a KFC restaurant after selling this week for a figure believed to be about $5 million.

Yum! Restaurants International, which also owns Long John Silvers, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell, bought the 2600-square metre Hunter Street property on Thursday night from owner Newcastle Palais Holdings, toppling the eight-storey residential and commercial building plan originally envisaged for the site.

The sale depended on Newcastle City Council's approval last week of the Yum! group's development application for a $2.5 million KFC restaurant with drive-through and 29 car parks and separate retail tenancy, which will be leased to an independent operator.

The application also stated that the restaurant would feature photographs of the old Palais Royale building.

Comments

Date: Newest first | Oldest first

A grand old historic venue is knocked down to make way for a goddam fast food outlet. PATHETIC!!!

Posted by Justin on 22/11/2008 8:38:34 AM

Just what Newcastle needs - more fatties. And they are building a BIGGER one at Mayfield. Hopeless. Thanks for nothing,

Posted by Newie Dat on 22/11/2008 8:42:27 AM

Why would someone pay 5mil for a block of land and build a 2.5mil fast food restaurant, there must be better options for that site

Posted by Bundabahdave on 22/11/2008 9:28:15 AM

What a pity that a historical building has been reduced to a glass box with some photo's of it's former glory, At the least the new owner could have reproduced the facade

Posted by Peter J on 22/11/2008 12:17:26 PM

I noticed that the Newcastle City Council still has the Palais Royal on its' "Newcastle Heritage Register". A whole lot of good that did....

Posted by Brett on 22/11/2008 12:54:22 PM

The last thing newcastle city centre needed was another apartment building....way to go KFC...yum indeed!

Posted by nasho on 22/11/2008 1:24:13 PM

Oh well, a place to meet chics is replaced by a chicken shop. Thats progress I suppose

Posted by rat409 on 22/11/2008 1:26:54 PM

Good old Newcastle council. Always taking the fast food buck. instead of cleaning up the city, we have to look at some old dead blokes head and smell the stench of dead chickens all day

Posted by Steveo on 22/11/2008 4:43:50 PM

What happend to the apartment development they fought so hard over?

Posted by James on 22/11/2008 5:53:46 PM

just what newcastle needs an american fastfood giant in the middle of hunter st. the mock up looks like a service station. but maybe a fastfood joint is better than the rotting squalor that is transforming that once vibrant part of town

Posted by krsb on 22/11/2008 8:48:22 PM

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