Much-anticipated Crown Street rooftop bar Humber remains clad in scaffolding and without a clear opening date after the state's licensing body recommended its liquor application be knocked back.
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Operator Adam Murphy lodged an application for his hotel licence at the end of May but, nearly six months on, its status still reads "under consideration" on the Office of Liquor, Gaming and Racing (OLGR) website.
Last month, the young businessman was advised the OLGR believed his application should be refused, with the government citing high levels of alcohol-related violence in the area and saying there were too many bars in Wollongong.
This put a dampener on the bar's planned October long-weekend and Melbourne Cup celebrations, which were advertised to its nearly 9000 Facebook followers, who have been enthusiastically requesting an opening date.
Working with Sydney-based licensing lawyers, Mr Murphy has since lodged a hefty response to OLGR's recommendation and is now waiting for a final decision to be handed down by the Independent Liquor and Gaming Authority (ILGA).
"We've put measures in place to ensure there shouldn't be any issues or areas they would be concerned about, basically just trying to negate any issues they might have," Mr Murphy said.
"We've done pretty much everything we possibly can from our end, and have spent a lot of money on solicitors just on this licensing issue.
"We know the community, as well as Wollongong City Council and the local licensing police are supportive, so it seems like there might be a bit of a disconnect between where the decision is being made in Sydney and what's going on here."
With ILGA's decision due at the end of this month, Mr Murphy hopes his fate won't be the same as innovative Market Street shipping container bar Sifters.
It has been operating as a cafe for several months after its licence was knocked back in April.
According to the Sifters decision, published on ILGA's website, the Director-General of the NSW Trade and Investment department said the proposed container bar was in a high-risk location due to the "above-average radial licence density" in the suburb of Wollongong.
The Director-General's submission also stated Wollongong had "alcohol-related assault and offensive behaviour rates well above the state average, indicating the suburb does have an adverse concentration of alcohol-related anti-social behaviour".
Despite no objections from the council, police or local community, the authority eventually refused the Sifters licence, saying it was not satisfied "the overall social impact of granting the application would not be detrimental to the well-being of the local community".
It argued residents and visitors to the region had access to enough licensed venues, stating there were "over 100 alternatives nearby to the premises and within the broader community".
It's understood Sifters' owners are now working with private consultants to find a way around their licensing troubles.
Meantime, Mr Murphy said he hoped to open the ground-floor cafe of the three-level Humber as soon as construction on the building was complete.
"Nothing in relation to our liquor licence will stop us from opening that cafe, but that's only really a third of our business," he said.
ILGA will consider the Humber licence on November 26.
