Cafe Freda’s Latest Venue To Shutter Its Doors Due To Developments on Oxford Street

Cafe Freda’s, the long-beloved Sydney cafe and bar, has announced it will be closing its doors in 2025. 

It is the latest in a long line of cafes, bars, music shops and nightlife venues that have announced closures or reductions in opening hours along the Oxford St strip. 

The LGBTQIA+ nightlife strip has been affected enormously by a large amount of construction, including the ongoing Oxford & Foley project. 

The major development has had enormously blown out timelines, which local business owners say, along with the COVID-19 pandemic and the lockout laws, has a huge amount to do with how local businesses are suffering. 

Cafe Freda’s announces closure

Cafe Freda’s, which used to be based in Chippendale, moved to Oxford St in 2020.

In a statement on social media, co-owner David Abram cites the lockout laws, the pandemic, and development of the building as reasons for the closure, and for the ‘ravaging’ of Oxford St’s nightlife.

“Cafe Freda’s was a love letter to Oxford Street, once the epicentre of Sydney night-life,” he writes.

“It had been ravaged by the devastating effects of the lock out laws, and more recently the pandemic.”

The statement also said that the Taylor Square venue has to close due to the redevelopment of their building. 

“We didn’t know how long [Cafe Freda’s] would be at this iconic location,” Abram said.

“In truth, we signed a one year rolling lease understanding that at some stage in the future the site would be developed. We didn’t know if this would be two years or ten. It turns out it was four (and a bit).”

The statement, posted to Instagram says Cafe Freda’s last day of service “will be Saturday 1st March – Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras 2025.”

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Cafe Freda’s (@cafefredas)

Oxford St businesses continue to struggle

Business owners on Oxford St have spoken out readily in the last year about the difficulties they’ve faced with operating, particularly because of the construction and never-ending developments and redevelopments. 

In May, Star Observer reported that construction on the Oxford Foley development had halted. Originally slated to be completed by mid-2023, and in time for the 2024 Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras parade, the project was still nowhere close to finished then — and still continues today, in December. It is now slated to open in the middle of 2025. 

An information session with developers Ashe Morgan in June failed to assuage or comfort the small business owners suffering from delayed construction on Oxford Street.

At the time, Robert Tait, a local resident and former retail shop owner, told City Hub that the local council, City of Sydney, had a lot to answer for.

“Development is already at least a year overdue. You’ve got three blocks that are boarded up for a very long period of time,” he said. “It’s massively impacted the vibrancy and commercial viability of Oxford Street. Just look at all the empty shops and businesses.”

Ken Holmes, owner of Aussie Boys, a men’s swimwear and underwear store that has traded on Oxford St for 40 years told Star Observer that there was only one word for what’s going on.

“Disastrous,” he said. “If it goes on for another two years, we just won’t be here.”

Holes told News Corp that today, his his store is trading “probably down 40 to 45 per cent on what we normally do.

“We have some days where we do nil because there’s just no traffic,” he said “The problem is nobody’s coming here because everyone’s saying ‘don’t go to Oxford Street, there’s nothing there’.

“We’re trying to turn that around a bit, but it seems to be stuck in people’s minds that there’s nothing here so they don’t come here.”