IT'S owned by City of Newcastle and for the last four years has been left to rot.
Queens Wharf boasts one of Newcastle's most spectacular views of the harbour and beyond.
But turn around and the picture becomes less like an iconic postcard and more like a festering eyesore polluting the foreshore with graffiti, broken windows, putrid smelling rubbish and squatters.
A stone's throw from the bustling Queens Wharf Hotel and shiny new buildings in the mall, on what has fast become the ugliest stretch of the foreshore, sits one of Newcastle's most high-profile abandoned buildings.
The sorry state of the western building at Queens Wharf was described by passerby John Albert this week as "nothing short of an embarrassment" and "a disgrace".
"The state of the place severely belies the site's worth and value to the city," Mr Albert said.
"Why council would just leave it to rot like this is beyond me. It's clear people are living in there. You've really got to question if the council wants it to go to rack and ruin so they can flog it off to the nearest developer who swoops in to save the day."
A City of Newcastle spokesman said this week the council had no intention of selling Queens Wharf.
He declined to answer if discussions had been held with interested parties about development at the site, but poured water on speculation a March meeting between City of Newcastle CEO Jeremy Bath and Syrian billionaire Ghassan Aboud was about the purchase of Queens Wharf.
Mr Aboud bought council's former City Administration Centre, known as the roundhouse, in 2019 and turned it into a five-star hotel called Kingsley which opened in mid-2021.
"Ghassan Aboud and CEO Jeremy Bath did not discuss the purchase of any properties owned by City of Newcastle when they met in March this year," the council's spokesman said.
"Council properties can only be sold under a transparent process that involves an expression of interest process and a resolution of the elected council."
A spokeswoman for Mr Aboud's Crystalbrook Collection confirmed on Friday that Mr Aboud met with Mr Bath and former lord mayor Nuatali Nelmes in March to discuss "the city's development and tourism", but said Queens Wharf was not on the agenda.
She said while Mr Aboud believes Newcastle had a vibrant future, he had no plans to further invest in the region.
Newcastle lord mayor Ross Kerridge said on Friday he was very concerned about the state of the Queens Wharf buildings.
Cr Kerridge said he had asked for a briefing and tour of the site with councillors, which would take place soon.
He said as a general principle he was not a fan of selling off council land or assets.
"I think we need to make a decision about what's to happen and move on that decision," he said.
"I find it hard to understand why this has taken so long to deal with, and I know COVID distracted us, but we need to make a decision about what we're going to do and if the buildings aren't salvageable, then let's clear the site and move forward."
'Someone's going to get hurt'
The Newcastle Herald reported in September that Queens Wharf had become a target for antisocial behaviour since it closed to the public in 2020, with reports of multiple random attacks in the area.
Two daily ferry services in each direction have been cut since September 9 after staff were told they could no longer use a section of Queens Wharf for their breaks. The service cuts were introduced to allow extra travel time for staff to access facilities at The Station.
Queens Wharf Hotel publican Steve Smyth has watched for years as the western building has slipped further and further into decay.
With nine years left on his lease of the hotel, Mr Smyth said he was desperate to see something done to improve the area.
Several years ago Mr Smyth said he and his business partners presented the council with a proposal to demolish the current buildings and rebuild.
The group had sketch designs from Newcastle firm EJE Architecture, the same firm that formulated plans to convert the roundhouse into Kingsley for Mr Aboud.
"The council did say to me ages ago that we don't lose any of our assets because we had offered to buy from carpark to carpark, but they sold the roundhouse," Mr Smyth said.
"We also offered to knock down the building and rebuild it if we got an extended lease for the amount of work we did, but it was all rejected."
In response, council's spokesman said the site was not for sale.
Mr Smyth said the situation had become dangerous with squatters moving in and children regularly scaling the three-storey building to run across an awning and jump in the harbour.
"Someone is going to get seriously hurt, it's a real worry with the kids constantly jumping off the awning into the harbour," he said.
"We've had a break-in recently and there's been an increase in vagrancy around the area. Homeless people are living in there. It's as real eyesore and there is absolutely no security, so anything goes."
On the October long weekend, residents reported a strong smell of gas in the area and the hotel was forced to close on Sunday and Monday, losing peak trading days.
Criminals looking for copper to sell as scrap metal had accessed underneath the western Queens Wharf building by water.
In the raid, they drilled straight through the main gas line that runs to the hotel in an effort to determine if it was made of copper.
The thieves, driven by the opportunity to cash in on the high prices copper and other recyclable metals are collecting on the international market, sell it to scrap metal yards, where it is packed into shipping containers and exported overseas.
The hotel was closed for two days after it lost gas supply until Mr Smyth organised repairs on the Tuesday.
Repairs 'cost prohibitive'
"It's such a huge disappointment to see what's going on around here, we have the best view in Newcastle and we have cruise ships coming in all the time," Mr Smyth said.
"But look at the foreshore area around here and it's disgusting, even the ferry terminal is horrible.For all the grandstanding the last council did about their achievements, you look around here and wonder what they were talking about."
The problems started when a fire broke out in the western building in April 2020, and some areas continued to operate for several months, but closed for good in December of that year.
It previously housed several eateries including Six Degrees and Cielo Italiano, as well as Harbourside Function Centre.
Council's spokesman declined to answer questions this week about if an insurance claim was made following the fire, and if so, what happened to the money.
He said the western building was 36 years old and no longer fit for purpose, but no decisions had been made on the future of the site.
The Queens Wharf buildings were opened in 1988 by Queen Elizabeth II on her Bicentennial tour of Australia.
A condition report from September 2021 rated the building as "fair to poor condition".
"There are areas of non-compliance of the fire services, which affect part of the building and make it unusable," council's spokesman said.
"The potential repairs are cost prohibitive for a building that has reached the end of its useful life. Regular inspections are undertaken."
When the Herald visited the site on Thursday the western building was easily accessible and it was obvious people were living in it.
"City of Newcastle is currently undertaking due diligence investigations to inform future planning for the site, acknowledging the planning process will take time and involve detailed investigations and approvals," the spokesman said.
"No decisions have been made. Rather a commitment was made to all councillors shortly after their election last month that they would be briefed later this year on the outcome of our investigations to date."
Council said it would organise security patrols for the area to "deter unwanted behaviour and ensure safety in the precinct following a spate of recent incidents".
