The category 1 historic place, the Empire Hotel in Princes St, was built in the 1870s, although it became well known for its role at the forefront of Dunedin’s music scene in the 1980s.
Under publicans John and Maureen Simpson, it was a hotspot for live local music, and where bands like The Clean, The Chills, The Verlaines, Sneaky Feelings, and The Bats laid the groundwork for the Dunedin Sound.
Now it has been converted into a commercial space and apartments.
It had hosted great New Zealand bands, as well as some "bloody headbangers", he said.
He recalled passing the hotel at night in its heyday, noise and cigarette smoke pouring out of the windows.
"It would have been just a hoot."
Current owner Jon Leng had been refurbishing the building since buying it in 2015, Mr Packer said.
The ground floor would be suitable for commercial use or accommodation, while the first and second storeys had been converted into apartments, Mr Packer said.
The hotel, which had a Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga Historic Places Trust category 1 registration, has had its historic facade restored with glass-reinforced concrete and painted in the original colour scheme.
On Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga’s website, The Verlaines founder Graeme Downes wrote the Empire was an incredibly important part of Dunedin and New Zealand’s history.
"It cannot be underestimated the role the Empire played in nurturing a local music scene that is acknowledged within alternative music circles around the world."
