It’s been linked to sex, drugs and … bribery, kidnapping, police corruption and plenty in between.
Two rooms once part of a notorious Potts Point brothel have come up for rent – the latest in a spate of former night-life venues in the area that have been repurposed for residential use.
One studio is listed for $550 per week, while the other is available for $420 per week.
The building on Kellett St, formerly painted neon pink, once housed a bordello called the Pink Flamingo, and later Cleopatra’s in the City, before it was shuttered in the mid 2010s.
It was during it’s time as the Pink Flamingo that the property became embroiled in a major police scandal, revealing a laundry list of criminal activities conducted on site, including a drug racket.
The building pictured when it was painted neon pink.
The brothel, a block from the once infamous Kings Cross “Golden Mile”, had included 11 bedrooms, 10 bathrooms, three kitchenettes, a bar, and a generous spread of glass bricks.
Most of the rooms are now individual rentals, including unit 1, which is currently up for rent. The $550 per week rent includes furnishings, bed linen and internet.
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The building came under the spotlight in 1995 when it formed part of an investigation being conducted as part of the Wood Royal Commission into police corruption at the time.
The commission heard from multiple sources about an illicit drug trade at the property while it was operated as the Pink Flamingo.
The interior pictured when it was still used as a brothel.
One of the rooms in the repurposed building is up for rent at $550 per week.
Media reports at the time indicated heroin was being passed into the brothel and sex workers were running drug tabs against their takings.
A witness revealed many of the girls who worked there were reportedly kept against their will until they settled their drug debts.
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Evidence was heard of the brothel-keeper, a drug dealer and crime boss, being involved in the alleged torture of a 17-year-old prostitute who owed him money for drugs.
At the hearings, sex workers told the commission the brothel manager known as “Fat George” had made the teenager kneel naked on all fours “like a dog”. She then “just disappeared”, one witness alleged.
Police video of an alleged drug deal outside the Pink Flamingo during the 1990s.
The manager, 169cm tall and 160kg, was said to be part of a cartel that controlled a slice of the Sydney drug trade in cahoots with police, judicial figures and other people in key positions of power, the Commission found.
The Wood Commission found that some detectives were paid to cover up the crimes and the investigation led to the resignation of many police officers.
“Fat George” was later sent to prison on numerous drug and assault charges.
Records indicated The Pink Flamingo building was sold in 2009 for $1.891m and was operated as a business called Cleopatra’s in the City before it sold again in 2013 for about $1.51m.
Other units within the Potts Point building have recently come up for rent.
The Potts Point building pictured in 2021.
After being repurposed as a gastronomic centre and then a boarding house, the building was listed for sale at various times in the years since, including in 2015 for $2.8m and in 2019 for $5.5m. Records indicated no change of ownership in that period.
The room currently listed for $550 per week rent comes with a LCD TV, kitchenette, utilities bills included and “company linens”, according to the rental listing.
The $420 per week rental has access to a communal kitchen.
The Kellett St building is among a range of former Kings Cross brothels now being used for other purposes.
This one-time brothel on the same street was also redeveloped.
The interior of the rival brothel before it was repurposed.
A former brothel down the street was redeveloped into a residence a few years ago while another, also on Kellett St was turned into office space in the mid-2010s.
The sales have followed widespread gentrification in the area, with lockout laws also thought to have contributed to Kings Cross’ decline as a night-life destination.
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