If there’s one thing 184-200 Broadway proves, it’s that a building’s purpose is never set in stone.

Since the mid-1800s, this site at Chippendale in Sydney’s inner south, has transitioned from a distillery to a sugar refinery, a funeral service provider to an automotive business, then a telecommunications hub and data centre.

Now, a $13.05-million development application proposes to give the site yet another identity—as possibly one of the largest backpacker hostels in the NSW capital.