Fitzroy: Iconic Brunswick St building home to Labour in Vain hotel and Zetta Florence up for sale

On a corner block, 197 and 197B Brunswick St, Fitzroy, which is home to the Labour In Vain hotel and Zetta Florence shop is on the market.

A Fitzroy property including the iconic Labour in Vain hotel which dates back almost 170 years is on the market with a ballpark $6.5 price tag.

The site at 197 and 197B Brunswick St is also home to the long-running craft and stationary store Zetta Florence and Cafe Louis.

The pub and Zetta Florence have leases with building’s owner that run until 2026, while Cafe Louis subleases from Zetta Florence.

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Colliers Melbourne City sales manager George Davies said the vendors, a family, had made a “combined decision to divest” after 40 years of ownership.

Mr Davies said interest in purchasing the site “has been reasonably strong” with local, interstate and offshore buyers all getting in touch.

“It’s one of very few properties on Brunswick St that comprises over 800sq m of land and triple street frontage,” Mr Davies said.

The Labour In Vain hotel was established in 1853.

The hotel retains a sense of period character.

The online listing for the building states that its Capital City 1 Zoning offers “scope for future subdivision, additional levels, or a substantial commercial, residential or mixed-use project (STCA)”.

The hotel is included a Yarra Council heritage overlay applied to a part of Brunswick St that was “one of the first north-south thoroughfares through Fitzroy”.

Labour In Vain was built by Fitzroy resident George Hyde who constructed a bluestone premises on the Brunswick St corner and opened the hotel in 1853.

The site is close to Melbourne CBD, Carlton Gardens and several shops and cafes.

A view from the hotel to the street.

The hotel’s licensee Roman Leopoldseder runs the business with his wife Helen as partner and daughter Vanessa as venue manager.

Before Vanessa, their late daughter Anthea was the venue’s manager.

The property’s September 3 auction will coincide with the family’s 18th year anniversary of operating the hotel.

Labour in Vain hosted a ‘Farewell to Cigarettes Party’ on the eve of the 2007 smoking laws for pubs being introduced, with then-manager Luke Stockdale getting in a few last puffs.

An undercover alfresco area.

Mr Leopoldseder said some customers mistakenly thought he was the one selling the hotel, not the landlord.

“It’s business as usual as Labour in Vain,” Mr Leopoldseder said.

Music acts including Amyl and the Sniffers, Grace Cummings and the late Spencer P Jones have played intimate gigs at the venue, which received a state government grant during the Covid-19 pandemic to upgrade its PA system and soundproofing.

“We are known as a significant music venue on this side of town,” Mr Leopoldseder said.

Zetta Florence has been supplying Brunswick locals with craft and stationary supplies since the 1980s, moving into its current premises in the early 1990s.

Zetta Florence’s white and blue facade.

Cafe Louis is another tenant of the site.

Zetta Florence owner Georgina Knightly said her business had been based in Brunswick St for about 24 years, after relocating from Gertrude St.

“We renovated the building and put a lot of heart, sweat, tears and money into the project, and the community loves us because we do a lot of things outside the business,” Ms Georgina Knightly said.

“We’re really hoping the person who buys the building will be an investor, not a developer.”

197 & 197B Brunswick St, Fitzroy, is located near the corner of Moor St.

The building is a popular meeting place for community members.

While renovating the shop, she discovered period bluestone and brickwork covered up by plasterboard, as well as 1930s-era toilets and bedding belonging to homeless people who had formerly slept there.

The building currently returns $259,590 per year through its leases.

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