Greek Orthodox Community seek hotel conversion of Oxford Street, Paddington landmark building

The Greek Orthodox Community NSW, owners of 1-11 Oxford Street, Darlinghurst/Paddington are sounding out the City of Sydney with hopes for a hotel conversion.

The church community has been long criticised for the mostly dormant premises over the past decade or so.

The initial hopes are for a six story hotel, which would sit behind its historic three storey facade.

The council has received a pre-development application approach.

The hotel would be welcomed by landlords who have nearby retail, the relatives of those hospitalised nearby, and attendees at events at the SCG.

Two years leasesare being currently offered through Gunnings for the empty historic building which was once known as the Grand Pacific Blue Room

It sits on one of Sydney's best known and busiest intersections, the point where Oxford Street meets South Dowling Street, Victoria Street and Barcom Avenue.

The precinct is known by locals as Three Saints Square, a five-way intersection on Oxford Street that covers two suburbs, Paddington and Darlinghurst and it is controlled by two councils, the City of Sydney and Woollahra Municipality.

The building included the former Academy Twin premises which operated between 1974 to 2010.

It reportedly opened with Roman Polanski's Macbeth and quickly became one of Sydney's best-loved arthouse cinemas.

It was closed by Palace Cinemas in June 2010 when it was unable to reach a new lease agreement with the building's owner, the Greek Orthodox Community of Sydney.