Sharks Leagues Club continues to face further delays in the redevelopment of its Woolooware clubhouse, which was originally scheduled for completion in February 2022.
The home of the Cronulla Sharks has been under construction since the end of 2019 when the doors to the original clubhouse closed. It is being built as part of the Woolooware Bay Town Centre, comprising retail, residential, hotel, multi-storey car park, and the Leagues Club.
“There have been ongoing frustrations around the delays that have been experienced,” Cronulla Sharks Group CEO Dino Mezzatesta said.
“The entire construction industry has faced challenges post Covid, with the Woolooware Bay site not immune to those challenges. Added to that, it has also been a complex build with retail, residential, hotel, multi story car park, as well as our Leagues Club, included in the one envelope.”
Mezzatesta first revealed the delays remain ongoing during a recent interview with David Boldeman on the ET Stand Podcast where he described the project “keeps me awake at night”.
But it’s not just the club that’s facing delays. Mezzatesta told Club Management all aspects of the development and the build is also well-behind scheduled completion dates.
“With hotel and anchor tenants in retail not opening for business until mid-February this year, smaller stores, food outlets and restaurants are now joining them and they are moving closer to finishing the residential units and welcoming purchasers, all of which has impacted on the builder and developers ability to hand over the Leagues Club site to begin our fit out,” he said.
Mezzatesta said club cannot begin construction and fitout until the developers return the site back to ownership of the club.
“Recent communications with the developer indicate the club handover will take place during the next month, however continued complications make it difficult to lock in an exact date, therefore allowing us to form a construction timeline,” he said.
“The build is a nine-to-12-month process, therefore if there is an August handover we are looking at re-opening the Leagues Club during the second-half of 2025.”
Since the closure of the original club premises, members have been calling Sharks at Kareela their home. It was the result of the amalgamation of Sharks Leagues Club and Kareela Golf Club.
“Our members have been very patient, we thank them for patronising our second licensed club at Sharks at Kareela and we will continue to deal with the challenges we are facing with our Woolooware site,” Mezzatesta said. “We look forward to achieving the best result for members and fans and to delivering a club they will be proud of.”