Fortitude Valley’s Elephant Hotel ready for next keeper

One of Brisbane’s most historic old watering holes is ready for its next keeper, with the Elephant Hotel now on the market.

The renowned Fortitude Valley pub, owned by the John Singleton-led Australian Pub Fund, is the latest hotel to be offloaded by the fund as it continues its disposal strategy.

The inner-city hotel, built in the 1880s as the Prince Consort Hotel, spans multiple levels on a 1237sqm freehold and features four separate bars, a large outdoor beer garden and a gaming room with 42 machines.

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It is being marketed by CBRE’s Paul Fraser and Jack Morrison in conjunction with JLL’s Tom Gleeson and Nick Butler, who say the pub should be a popular opportunity in a city starved of chances to purchase pub investments.

“The Brisbane near city market has been starved of genuine mixed-use, value add opportunities in recent times, particularly those with the adaptability and flexibility offered by The Elephant Hotel,” Morrison says.

“The four-level character building provides multiple avenues for value creation underpinned by its prime, mixed-use location, just across from the Fortitude Valley Train Station in an area which serves as a natural extension to the Brisbane CBD.”

The Elephant Hotel is being offered with the potential to both own and run the establishment, or purchase it with a long-term tenant on a sale and leaseback arrangement.

The pub will be the last pub to be offloaded by the Australian Pub Fund, which at its peak boasted 11 hotels worth around $300 million across Australia, but has sold the majority of them over the past two years to take advantage of the rising demand for hospitality investments.

Earlier this month the fund listed the Unity Hall Hotel in Balmain, with the two pubs to spell the end of the group’s portfolio.

Australian Pub Fund director Matthew Beach says it is the right time to pass the pub on.

“Given the current low interest rates and the lack of quality stock on the market, we feel the timing is right to exit the property after seven years of ownership,” Beach says.