Council is calling for Expression of Interest for a long-term lease to operate business at 71A Acland Street, currently known has The Vineyard. The EOIs are required by 11 October and the new lease for up to 21 years could commence from July 2026.
Iconic, an institution, a St Kilda original, the last black heart?
Iconic is an overused word. Institution may also be a bit over blown. Original sounds like real estate agent talk. But no matter how you describe The Vineyard, it’s survived numerous bids to evict it from pride of place on Acland Street overlooking Luna Park and O’Donnell Gardens.
The Vineyard has been trading as a local bar since 1999 under the management of the Iodice brothers. Looking over O’Donnell Gardens with a long neck is classic St Kilda, so are rowdy late nights, loud music and boozy vibes. But are those days numbered?
And now its up for grabs
And we’re not surprised. Council and the current operators have been at loggerheads for decades. Long time locals may have distant (beer stained) memories of a vigorous campaign to Save The Vineyard from Council in 2003. More recently, Council have been in a protracted tussle with the current managers including several threatened evictions.
Ill-fated plans to renovate the building, developed by the current managers at their expense, were distributed for community consultation and then quietly dropped by Council.
Since then there has been a war of words happening in the background, leaving both sides extremely unhappy.
Meanwhile the beat goes on
After fighting off an eviction order in VCAT last year, The Vineyard crew have been trading as usual. Buoyed by a loyal following and sustained by a great location, Iodice and crew are delivering a crowd-pleasing mix of food, music and booze in a proudly unrenovated décor.
Johnny Iodice told TWiSK that they were consulting lawyer and would comment soon.
Meanwhile the Irish are circling
With the EIO in the market for just a few days, the speculation about more Irish style craic seems obvious – it’s next to O’Donnell Gardens after all – and the Irish themed venues are thriving while many others are struggling.
There’s also a bevvy of corporate outfits with deep pockets snapping up other local venues of note recently. A prime candidate would be the Australian Venue Group that has 200 venues nationally including theses in St Kilda: The Espy, The Prince*, Village Belle, The Newmarket and West Beach Pavilion (leased from Council). (*added 21 July 24)
Heard about The Vineyard on the grapevine?
Calling for EOIs for The Vineyard is clearly a matter of public interest yet there was no Council media release and no listing in the public notice or tender sections of their website.
Apparently, this process is business as usual.
Mayor Cunsolo told TWiSK Council were promoting this EOI on their Tenderlink Portal, Projects & Works webpage and advertising the opportunity on realcommercial.com.au, which is standard practice for any of our commercial leasing opportunities.
More like a needle in a haystack.
