Sydney’s haunted Regent Theatre for sale
For the first time in almost 30 years, buyers have the chance to acquire Richmond’s famous haunted Regent Theatre — resident ghost and all.
Operating for over 80 years, the Regent Theatre is said, by many who have worked at and visited the cinema, to have its own phantom.
There have been reports of a ghost who lingers in the stairwell, thought to be the ghost of a lady who fell to her death there in the 1930s.
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Matrix Property Group is marketing the sale of the theatre.
It is listed with an asking price of $1.7 million, and is being offered as a going concern.
The Regent Theatre is oozing with potential, and spirit.
“We expect significant interest in the theatre — unique offers like this don’t come along every day,” Matrix Property Group’s John Chancellor says.
“It is an eccentric category that is so niche and we think someone connected to the film industry or a lover of cinema will be drawn to it.”
In addition to its spiritual reputation, the theatre at 145 Windsor St has an interesting history.
Originally owned by Michael Walsh, The Regent Theatre first opened in 1935 with a production “My Heart is Calling.”
His daughters ran the theatre from 1948 until 1976 when it was sold to television personality and Gold Logie Award winner Mike Walsh, who despite his surname was not related to the owners.
John Levy (pictured in 1999) is the current owner of the Regent Theatre.
He was the host of the enormously popular The Mike Walsh Show from 1973 until 1985.
Walsh restored the theatre, enlarging the vestibule and relocating the front doors.
It was used for both movie screenings and live presentations.
In 1989 it was sold to current owner John Levy, who created the twin cinema and reopened it in 1993.
Levy bought the theatre for $700,000, according to data from CoreLogic.
WANT A LESS HAUNTED VERSION?
Similar name, but by all reports less haunted, is the Regent Cinema in Tamworth.
The cinema is said to “dominate the entry to the CBD” and to be a classic period building that “would make an ideal corporate headquarters with its potential for further development limited only by your imagination”.
The Regent Theatre in Tamworth.
The landmark Tamworth property was built circa 1938, and was a first-rate theatre in its day — built by Zachariah “Jack” Kouvelis.
With the town’s cinema complex having been relocated to the new Centrepoint building, the corner block building is now for sale by expressions of interest.
In Murwillumbah, another Regent theatre building is for sale — although it’s been a while since any movies were screened there, having been converted to a Foodworks supermarket, real estate agent and electrical repair business.
OOZING WITH POTENTIAL
Another similar opportunity — again less haunted — is on the market in Lithgow, where The Theatre Royal on Main St is up for grabs for $1,125,000.
The theatre is described as a “majestic landmark building with enormous potential for return as an entertainment, reception and fine dining venue”.
The Theatre Royal in Lithgow is for sale.
It has a 411 seat mezzanine level with original projector boxes, full size screen, timber stage and dressing rooms, a sunken dance floor, and full size commercial kitchen and a bar on each level.
The Australia Cinema 4 in Orange is also currently listed for sale by EOI.
This article from The Daily Telegraph was originally published as “Haunted Sydney theatre for sale, ghost included”.
