Redfern Archives - Surry Hills News

Surry Hills to Welcome New Coles and Vintage Cellars, Boosting Local Employment

Residents of Surry Hills and Redfern will soon have a new go-to destination for food and drink as Coles and Vintage Cellars open their doors at the new Surry Hills Shopping Village, enhancing convenience and diversity in local shopping options.

Set to open on 27 June 2024, the Coles and Vintage Cellars stores will bring a variety of food and drink options to Surry Hills and create significant employment opportunities. 130 new jobs have been announced, including 18 positions specifically for First Nations team members, reflecting the community’s dynamic diversity.

Mitch Springer, Coles Surry Hills Store Manager, expressed his excitement about the new venture.

“It’s modern, open and accessible, adding to the lively atmosphere of the new shopping village. I’m confident customers will enjoy the space and our diverse range of offerings,” he said.

Coles and Vintage Cellars Surry Hills — *Photo Credit: Vintage Cellars*

Diverse Offerings and Community Integration

The new Coles store will feature an extensive range of products including a bakery, fresh seafood, and a variety of Grab-and-Go options like sushi and ready-made meals. It will cater to the diverse tastes of the community with a specialized selection of Asian destination products. Moreover, the store will support the National Centre of Indigenous Excellence in their efforts to provide local Indigenous community members with employment opportunities.

Vintage Cellars Surry Hills, managed by Paul Adamson, will complement its counterpart by offering over 1,800 selections of wines, beers, and spirits. Adamson shared his enthusiasm.

“Our team is ready to offer expert guidance so customers can make the most of our extensive selection, including local products from Sydney’s Batch Brewing Company and Archie Rose Distilling Co.”

Community and Environmental Contributions

In addition to boosting local employment, Coles Surry Hills will collaborate with SecondBite New South Wales to donate unsold, edible food to help those facing food insecurity in the area. This initiative is part of Coles’ broader commitment to diversity, inclusion, and community support.

The new stores are located in the Surry Hills Shopping Village at the intersection of Cleveland and Baptist Street in Redfern, which used to be the Redfern Mall. Coles will operate from 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. daily, while Vintage Cellars will open from 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. Monday to Saturday and 10:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. on Sunday.

Published 25-June-2024

Surry Hills Real Estate Up 8.4%, New #1 Agent Weighs In

The Surry Hills property market has gone from strength to strength in recent years. After another strong 12 months of growth, the median house price has gone up 8.41% to $2.005 million to the end of September 2021. At the forefront, an agent long-renowned for his sales activity in Redfern has become Surry Hills’ #1 Agent.

Read : Surry Hills Median House Price Hits $2-Million Mark

A lot has been happening around us.

It confirmed what locals already knew, highlighting the constant demand to move to the area, keeping house prices buoyant.

Surry Hills has officially been voted into the top 20 coolest neighbourhoods in the world. (You didn’t know? Click here to read about it.)

At the same time, Sydney saw a trend through Covid for people to move into larger houses. While the typical Surry Hills terrace has a footprint of 100-200 square metres (not huge by the rest of Australia’s standards), these properties offered inner-city residents a lot of spatial options during the pandemic — from living spaces over two storeys, to urban backyards, rear-lane studios and more.

Amid all this activity, Charles Touma of the Ray White Touma Group has been selling more homes than any other local agent. When he sold 3 terrace houses in one weekend recently, he stepped into that #1 spot.

Having been #1 in neighbouring Redfern for many years, Touma’s success in Surry Hills increased during lockdown. The government mandates for one-on-one property appointments meant he was personally introducing clients to every home. Some of them had never even considered Surry Hills.

Read: 3 Things You May Not Know About the Adam Goodes Mural in Surry Hills

We’ve been following Charles for his “Touma Talks” series, where he focuses on the stories of Surry Hills and Redfern in a number of videos.

Touma Talks has covered an eclectic mix of stories in a series of videos that gives interesting anecdotes about people and places that shaped their suburb.

Some of the highlights are:

The Perkal Brothers used to ply their trade at 386 Crown St. Their best client was Kerry Packer but they also serviced two Queens.

The Worst Woman in Sydney Episode was a cracker? She operated out of Landsdowne Street, Pearl Street, and Devonshire Street.

Riley Street and surrounds became notorious as a hotspot for Sydney’s underworld for at least two decades.

Other local stories include one on Foster Lane, where there was once a highly secretive local venue called ‘Thommo’s Two-Up School.’ Oh to be a fly on the wall back in the day!

Also, have you heard about the pub that never opened on the corner of Arthur and Alexander Streets?

And did you know that AC/DC’s Bon Scott broke his ankle over on Cleveland Street?

There’s certainly no shortage of Local Legends for Touma to feature in the series.

Despite the likelihood of increased interest rates in 2022, Touma expects demand for terrace houses close to Sydney CBD to continue.

Locals See Problems With Cleveland Street Traffic Flow Changes in Surry Hills, Redfern

Transport for NSW has been distributing leaflets among residents of Surry Hills and Redfern, announcing that it’s seeking feedback on the planned traffic flow changes on the long stretch of Cleveland Street.

However, some locals are pushing back on the proposal as concerns of clogging on the intersecting streets have been raised, despite Transport for NSW saying that it will improve the safety issues of this key east-west road.

Among the changes include:

Reducing the speed limit of Cleveland Street, between City Road and Anzac Parade, to 40km/h
Installing new traffic lights on the intersections
Removing right turn access from Cleveland Street to Wilton Street, Walker Street, Young Street and Crown Steet
Returning the left turn access on Cleveland Street to Baptist Street
Installing “No Right Turn” signs on the concerning streets

But members of the Cleveland Street Action Group said that the traffic flow changes will open the possibility of motorists creating “rat runs” or unintended short cuts in the side streets so drivers could avoid heavy traffic and other obstacles.

In particular, backstreets like Boronia, Rainford and Mort Streetshave been identified as potential rat runs.

“These intersection improvements will improve Cleveland St traffic flows at the expense of local roads, adding to dramatic changes in local amenity and increased risks of vehicular conflict with pedestrians, cyclists and people (men, women and children). Increased traffic does not help property values either,” Annette Tolhurst, the group’s coordinator, said.

Ms Tolhurst said that they are not asking Transport for NSW to scrap the plan but for the agency to do a “proper impact assessment” by listening to the community.

“Our only hope is to try to have it paused until proper consultation can happen,” the coordinator said.

The group also called on residents of Surry Hills and Redfern to complete the survey from Transport for NSW.

Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore said that the State Government should hold off on its plans to implement the changes after proper consultation.

An average of 49,000 motorists use Cleveland Street on a weekly basis. From 2014 to 2019, about 217 crashes were reported on the busy road, which has resulted in 42 serious accident cases, including one death.