Melbourne’s iconic Festival Hall bought by Hillsong Church

The Hillsong Church has purchased iconic Melbourne music venue Festival Hall for a whopping $23m.

Founder of the megachurch Brian Houston announced in a YouTube video that the Sydney-based Pentecostal church had bought the famous Dudley Street concert hall under its organisation Community Venues.

“It’s an amazing venue and by God’s grace … we’ve been able to purchase Festival Hall,” Mr Houston said, to audience applause.

Mr Houston said the plan was to do “a complete renovation” of the historic building where legendary artists including The Beatles, Frank Sinatra and Johnny Cash have performed.

Hillsong leader Brian Houston confirmed the sale. Pic John Grainger

He said the venue — once known as the House of Stoush for its boxing ring inside — would hold church services “every Sunday night or Sunday morning or whenever we have church”, but there would also be opportunities for other community events.

Pastors Tim and Nicholas Douglass hinted at the possibility it would remain a music venue and somewhat “continue to be Festival Hall” in the video.

Colliers International agents Matt Stagg, Dave Walker and Daniel Wolman brokered the $23.75m sale on October 16.

Mr Stagg confirmed another large entertainment consortium had made an offer on Festival Hall but withdrew after assessing the impact of coronavirus on the music industry, opening the door to underbidder Hillsong, which settled after due diligence in October.

Courtney Love in concert at Festival Hall, Melbourne. Picture: Ellen Smith

Two warehouses that were used for administration and storage by Festival Hall are still for sale.

The 105-year-old large West Melbourne venue, which was rebuilt after being destroyed by fire in 1955, was first put up for sale about three years ago.

At the time Festival Hall owner Chris Wren said they needed to sell because the venue couldn’t compete with Melbourne’s larger modern stadiums, such as Margaret Court Arena.

Their proposal to sell the site with permits for two 16-storey apartment buildings was rejected by the City of Melbourne after a fierce community-led campaign, which also led to the hall receiving heritage protection status in 2018.

There could be a very new look for Festival Hall. Picture: Nikki Short

Boxing at the 1956 Olympic Games was held at Festival Hall.

With a capacity of more than 5000 people, the venue hosted events during the 1956 Olympic Games and the first Indoor Tennis Exhibition featuring John McEnroe and Rod Laver.