THE DIARY Sydney’s so-called bar tsar, Justin Hemmes, has become entangled in a drawn-out argument with the builder of his mega-club, The Ivy.
The dispute, understood to be worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, relates to “variations” to the original contract between Hemmes and the building company, Lucas Stuart, during construction of the George Street booze barn. On its website, Lucas Stuart talks about how challenging the award-winning project was to complete: “Ivy’s construction challenges included extremely tight access (everything had to come in via a narrow city lane), complex design and tight timetable. The first bars and restaurants opened shortly after Christmas 2007 after just over a year of construction.” Equally challenging, The Diary understands, was dealing with the numerous changes of mind that Hemmes had about aspects of the club during construction, which led to additional costs. While Hemmes’s company, Merivale, has paid for some of them, he is in disagreement with the builder about others. The two parties are trying to resolve their differences but it looks as though the argument is heading for the courts. Hemmes wasn’t available for comment.
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