Photo via The Sydney Morning Herald

Stone the crows! Popular north shore watering hole to close

Read the original at The Sydney Morning Herald ↗
Cite

Cummins, C. (2026, September 18). Stone the crows! Popular north shore watering hole to close. The Sydney Morning Herald. https://www.smh.com.au/business/small-business/stone-the-crows-popular-north-shore-watering-hole-to-close-20260918-p60yb2.html?ref=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_source=rss_feed

Dated when The Aporia collected the article, usually within hours of publication. Check the original for its exact date and byline.

The Sydney Morning Herald · collected 2026-09-18 · by Carolyn Cummins

Quick Summary

The Stoned Crow, a well-known bar in Crows Nest that has been operational for 15 years under its current owners, will close on October 4 due to the end of its lease agreement. The venue, which was originally owned by pub magnate Warwick Short and later transformed into a neighborhood bistro and craft beer destination, is facing competition from new developments such as apartment complexes and other commercial establishments in the area.
Written by AI on 2026-09-18, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

The Stoned Crow, a popular bar and nightclub in Crows Nest, Sydney, will close its doors on October 4. Arik Shifroni, the current tenant who ran the venue for 15 years, announced the closure on social media. Originally owned by pub baron Warwick Short in the 1980s, The Stoned Crow was sold to its current owners in 2011, who turned it into a neighborhood bistro and craft beer destination. The property is now owned by Procorp Developments, controlled by Peter and Francisco Procopio. The closure comes amid significant development changes in the area, including an upcoming major apartment complex by Deicorp, a McDonald’s construction site, and plans for a new 500-patron bar called Royal Crow proposed by Thomas Hotels group.

Written for “Bar Closures” on 2026-10-30, grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 Bar Closures
Other · 1 article(s) covering the same event.

Compared with similar articles

Nothing to compare against. No article is close enough to this one for the pipeline to have linked or judged the pair.
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
33
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
0%
0 of 33 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
not political
takes no side on a contested political question
Publisher signals
61/100
The Sydney Morning Herald's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
1
Other
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-09-18 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

The Sydney Morning Herald · 5572 article(s) · 15 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 15 correction(s)

Who wrote this

Carolyn Cummins
1 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 The venue at 39 Willoughby Road, once owned by pub baron Warwick Short in the 1980s, was a popular nightclub and bar before it sold to the current owners in 2011.
The only article under this byline in the corpus.

Topics

ASX Capital Gain Crows Nest’s Domino’s Dubbo Procorp Developments

Subjects

ASX ORG · 3× Domino’s ORG · 2× Dubbo GPE · 2× Newcastle ORG · 2× Ryan PERSON · 2× Urban PERSON · 2× Arik Shifroni PERSON · 1× Capital Gain Crows Nest’s ORG · 1× Shifroni PERSON · 1× Warwick Short PERSON · 1×

Narrative

The Oaks Hotel in Neutral Bay went for $130 million to Gallagher Hotels; the Merewether Surfhouse in Newcastle sold for $27 million and the MA Financial purchased three Hunter Valley hotels from Iris Capital for about $500 million.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-09-18
🔮 The venue at 39 Willoughby Road, once owned by pub baron Warwick Short in the 1980s, was a popular nightclub and bar before it sold to the current owners in 2011.
2026-09-18 · The Sydney Morning Herald
Stone the crows! Popular north shore watering hole to close · assertive framing

Claims (33 extracted, 0 hedged)

Capital Gain Crows Nest’s The Stoned Crow, one of the lower north shore’s best-known watering holes, is closing its doors on October 4, the bar’s current tenant, Arik Shifroni, has announced on social media. asserted
tenant → know → media
“After 15 incredible years, our lease is coming to an end, and we’ve got one last month to celebrate The Stoned Crow – and what a 15 years it’s been,” Shifroni said in a post. asserted
Shifroni → come → post
The venue at 39 Willoughby Road, once owned by pub baron Warwick Short in the 1980s, was a popular nightclub and bar before it sold to the current owners in 2011. asserted
it → own → 2011
The new owners transformed it into a neighbourhood bistro and craft beer destination. asserted
owners → transform → bistro
The bar’s freehold owner and landlord is Procorp Developments, controlled by Peter and Francisco Procopio, property records show. asserted
records → control → Procopio
Crows Nest, a popular neighbourhood, has a major apartment development under way by Deicorp that is set to dominate the skyline. asserted
that → have → skyline
A large-scale McDonald’s is under construction and another 500-patron multi-level bar, the Royal Crow, has been proposed by the Thomas Hotels group. asserted
bar → propose → group
The longest-running pub in the area, the Crows Nest Hotel, is owned by ALH, part of ASX-listed Endeavour Group. asserted
pub → run → Group
Royal Oak sells asserted
Oak → sell → ?
The Ryan family pub empire has stormed into the upmarket Double Bay enclave after making an offer too good to refuse to the Royal Oak Hotel’s current owners, the Malouf brothers. asserted
empire → storm → owners
The Maloufs – Jamie, Justin and Ed – are believed to have pocketed a whopping $100 million in the deal. asserted
Maloufs → believe → deal
They owned the well-known watering hole for about 15 years as part of their Royal Hotels Group. asserted
They → own → Group
The deal marks the Ryan family’s return to Double Bay. asserted
deal → mark → Bay
They once owned the nearby Golden Sheaf for 50 years before selling out of the suburb almost 30 years ago. asserted
They → own → suburb
A swag of other high-priced pubs have sold in the past year. asserted
swag → price → year
The Oaks Hotel in Neutral Bay went for $130 million to Gallagher Hotels; the Merewether Surfhouse in Newcastle sold for $27 million and the MA Financial purchased three Hunter Valley hotels from Iris Capital for about $500 million. asserted
Financial → go → million
The Ryans own the Tea Gardens, Ryan’s Bar on George Street, the Paragon Hotel and Ship Inn at Circular Quay, the Orient Hotel at The Rocks, and the Covent Garden Hotel in Chinatown. asserted
Ryans → own → Chinatown
HTL Property’s Andrew Jolliffe and Dan Dragicevich advised on the Royal’s off-market sale. asserted
Jolliffe → advise → sale
A newly built venue leased to fast food giants Guzman y Gomez and Domino’s in Dubbo is for sale with a price tag of about $6.5 million. asserted
venue → build → million
The property on the corner of the Mitchell Highway and Spitfire Drive is being offloaded by investor Davide Giansante. asserted
property → offload → Giansante
The 2336-square-metre corner site generates $294,324 a year and has a 15.4-year weighted average lease expiry. asserted
site → generate → expiry
ASX-listed GYG has an initial 20-year lease term until 2043, with fixed 3 per cent annual rent reviews. asserted
GYG → list → reviews
Domino’s, also listed on the ASX, has an initial 10-year lease term until 2033, with fixed 2.5 per cent annual rent reviews and two further five-year options. asserted
Domino → list → reviews
JLL’s George Daley and Jacob Heinke have been appointed to sell the property. asserted
Daley → appoint → property
Coastal rush IHG hotels has joined the rush to the Central Coast after signing two large-scale hotel deals to boost its regional footprint. asserted
hotels → join → footprint
The new hotels are part of mixed-use developments undertaken by Urban Property Group. asserted
hotels → undertake → Group
Hotel Indigo Gosford is expected to open in mid-2030, and will be part of Urban’s The Waterfront precinct. asserted
Gosford → expect → precinct
The 152-room hotel will have views across Brisbane Water, a cafe, bar, rooftop pool and wellness facilities. asserted
hotel → have → Water
In Newcastle, the Crowne Plaza is scheduled to open in late 2029, and will form part of Urban’s landmark mixed-use development adjacent to Newcastle Interchange. asserted
Plaza → schedule → Interchange
The 171-room hotel will sit within the 43-storey development alongside 219 residential apartments. asserted
hotel → sit → apartments
Australia’s largest hospitality group, Accor, said last week’s NFL match in Melbourne boosted occupancy by 25 per cent over the same period last year. asserted
match → say → period
Demand is likely to carry into next weekend when the AFL grand final is played at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. asserted
final → carry → Ground
Contact carolynannecummins@gmail.com The Market Recap newsletter is a wrap of the day’s trading. asserted
newsletter → contact → trading
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