A consortium comprising the O’Hara, Laundy and Cruikshank families has extended their regional NSW hotels acquisitions run, snapping up the Springdale Heights Tavern in Albury off-market for $22 million.
The consortium had just picked up the Sportsmans and Duke of Kent hotels in Wagga Wagga.
All three sales were negotiated by HTL. HTL’s Blake Edwards, who sold the sprawling 12,000 sqm Springdale Heights Tavern property, said the vendor of 25 years, Graeme Bosse, engaged the agency to run a “by invitation” sale process for the hotel, and “given the shape and depth of recent interest garnered, we were confident of exceeding the previous record for the region”.
“Albury, like Wagga Wagga and other similar regional centres, enjoys critical population mass; as well as diversified economic inputs from a range of agribusiness and other commercial industry activities.”
Eatons Hotel in the Upper Hunter Region has been sold off by long-term owners in one of the most recent regional sales in NSW, while also in the Hunter, the Grand Hotel in Newcastle has hit the market for the first time in 30 years after the private owners has received a number of unsolicited offers for the pub.
Hollywood celebrity and influencers’ playground Byron Bay has just seen the biggest pub deal this year, after Melbourne duo Scott Didier and fintech founder Scott Emery bought the Great Northern and Lateen Lane properties from the Mooney family for $80 million. The deal comes hot on the heels of pub star Justin Hemmes acquiring the Cheeky Monkeys, also on Jonson Street.
Ludlow Hospitality has just bought the Five Islands Hotel in Wollongong’s Cringila for $20.7 million.
HTL has recorded a one hotel asset sale per week average for the year as the sector fizzes along.
“Lenders need little encouragement to take material positions in the asset class because of the high grade and historical operational experience that dominates the sector, as well as the distinct lack of trade debtors that occupy the typical balance sheet,” HTL’s Andrew Jolliffe said.
“As a pure free market business model, it’s as close to perfect as you will find; and is therefore the reason why even during whole market turbulence, this sector will bounce early and bounce hard” added Jolliffe.
“Without seeking oversimplification, it’s as close to a consignment based, property backed, high barriers to competitive entry model as there can conceivably be.”
HTL recently sold the Moonee Beach Hotel on the NSW North Coast for $23 million to Martin Short and Co, and has since been engaged to sell the NSW South Coast’s Cooee Hotel and Brisbane’s Beachmere Tavern.
