It doesn’t get much more iconic than living above the famous Coke sign in Potts Point.
We explore the fascinating history of the Zenith Residences at 82-94 Darlinghurst Road.
The centre of Sydney’s nightlife
Zenith Residences was once a series of old charterfilled buildings that was part of the old Kings Cross: the beating heart of Sydney’s nightlife for generations.
As these fabulous photos from 1965, another from 1965 and an earlier one from 1960 reveal, the Cross was buzzing back then. Neon signs covered the old buildings in the block where Zenith now stands, advertising businesses of all kinds, including a late night chemist, a butcher’s shop, a pub, a travel agent, Penfolds Wine, Mayfair Jewellers, Hasty Tasty Burger and Livio’s Striperama.
But not everyone liked things this way and the Cross was also often referred to as “sin city”.
The 1960s documentary, “The Glittering Mile” shows just what it was like in that era, describing Kings Cross as a “glittering mile of dreams, delusions, hopes and headaches, where life comes out of an espresso machine and you can have it any way you like it.
It was during the 1960s that the streetscape on this landmark corner of the city started to change, as construction work on the Kings Cross Tunnel started.
In 1970, this block – the most prominent corner “at the top of the cross” – was then reimagined as the Kingsgate Hotel, rising 95 metres over 37 floors. It opened the following year.
From hotel to apartments
The Kingsgate carried on some of the vibrancy of the old corner block, housing several restaurants and a popular nightclub called The Polaris Room – famous for hosting musicians including the Johnny Rocco Band and even AC/DC.
This 1971 photo shows the Kingsgate in its final stages of construction, while this photo shows the sensational view from the hotel at night in 1974. The hotel was later renamed the Millenium Hotel, then rebranded as the Hyatt Kingsgate in 1981.
It continued operating until 2003, before shutting its doors for the last time. It wasn’t alone.
In fact, between 2000 and 2003, 16 hotels in and around Kings Cross – including Top of the Town, The Sebel, The Crest and The Rex – shut their doors for good due to a post-Olympics “oversupply” of hotel rooms.
All up, 2,000 hotel rooms were taken off the market.
Zenith Residences today
Soon afterwards, the Kingsgate was reclad and converted into 97 luxury apartments over 34 floors. These were progressively sold or leased from 2006.
In 2008, the lower levels opened as The Kings Cross Centre, featuring supermarkets, shops and restaurants.
In 2020, the building made news headlines when a rare, blank slate penthouse space was sold, offering 360 degree views.
Today, Zenith Residences contains a range of apartments, from one-bedroom apartments that hold strong appeal to investors right through to sub penthouse or penthouse apartments with stunning views.
Residents lucky enough to call the building home enjoy a sunny outdoor pool and deck, well-equipped gym and sauna, ample visitor parking and the benefits of a 24-hour concierge.
We recently sold Apartment 32A, a four bedroom sub penthouse on the 32nd floor of Zenith Residences, offering incredible 270 degree vistas over Sydney from the Opera House and Harbour Bridge to the Heads, with an outlook over the CBD skyline and Botany Bay, and views as far west as the Blue Mountains. With two bathrooms, four balconies and four car spaces this sub-penthouse defines world-class Sydney living, and sold for $4.6 million.
What about that famous Coca-Cola sign?
The Kings Cross Coca-Cola sign has been a landmark where pop culture, politics and people have been intersecting since the 70s.
But photos from the 1960s show that Coke was actually advertising in the area many years before the Kingsgate was built, just on a smaller scale. It rented one of the illuminated neon Coke signs on the previous retail buildings that stood on the site.
In 1974 – three years after the Kingsgate Hotel was built – a new sign was installed on the lower levels of the building, around the time the Kings Cross tunnel was being completed.
It has since been renovated and remodelled several times and is considered the largest billboard in the Southern Hemisphere and a true Sydney icon.
Read our article on the Coke sign here.
Read our article Sydney’s Kings Cross in Film and TV here.
Want more?
If you’re considering buying or selling in Sydney’s East, contact my team for expert guidance.
