Howard Smith Wharves owners to bring top class to Manly

The owners of Brisbane’s Howard Smith Wharves will look to bring their up-market style to Sydney’s Manly Wharf after finalising the purchase of the property from tycoon Robert Magid’s TMG Developments for about $80m.

The owners of Brisbane’s Howard Smith Wharves will look to bring their up-market style to Sydney’s Manly Wharf after finalising the purchase of the property from tycoon Robert Magid’s TMG Developments for about $80m.

Adam Flaskas and Paul Henry have also bought Ben May’s Manly Wharf Hotel business for more than $20m as they put their stamp on the area after making their Brisbane project one of the city’s top destinations.

“We’re really looking forward to operating the Manly Wharf Hotel, which is right at the heart of the wharf and the community,” said Mr Flaskas, who co-founded HSW and is a director.

Mr Flaskas and fellow HSW founder and director Mr Henry have shown a keen interest in revitalising historic sites, most recently transforming the heritage-listed Howard Smith Wharves into a renowned entertainment and cultural precinct sporting restaurants, cafes, bars, events spaces, a hotel and the award-winning Felons Brewery.

The heritage-listed Manly Wharf was originally built in 1855 as a passenger terminal for the Sydney to Manly Ferry. It has since been transformed into a hospitality destination, which houses an array of venues including Queen Chow, Hugos and the Manly Wharf Hotel.

CBRE’s Simon Rooney and James Douglas negotiated the sale on behalf of Robert Magid’s TMG Developments.

The wealthy entrepreneur has been selling down assets.

He sold Melbourne’s Hotel Lindrum to developer Time & Place last year and offloaded the Harbour Rocks Hotel to Indonesian-backed Invictus Pacific Alpha Management for about $40m

“We are honoured to be the new custodians of the historic and iconic Manly Wharf,” Mr Flaskas said.

“We’re looking forward to deeply connecting with the Manly community and providing a family friendly, sustainable and cultural entertainment precinct, offering the freshest, highest quality produce to the local community and visitors of Manly Wharf.”

The owners of Brisbane’s Howard Smith Wharves will look to bring their up-market style to Sydney’s Manly Wharf. Picture: Gaye Gerard/NCA NewsWire

Mr Flaskas said the company was “excited to embark on this new journey, breathing new life into such an iconic site”.

“Manly has a loyal community that welcomes people from everywhere to this special place where the harbour meets the beach,” he said.

In keeping with the area’s environmental focus, Mr Flaskas said sustainability would be key, and the developer would undertake landfill diversion.

“We’ve been able to achieve 95 per cent landfill diversion at Howard Smith Wharves, which will be a big goal to work towards.”

TMG’s Robert Magid said the group was nostalgic about the sale of Manly Wharf.

“It was one of our first property purchases,” Mr Magid said.

“We purchased it from receivers. It was built back to front with the back to the harbour; tenants not paying their rent,” Mr Magid said.

“But we saw the great potential. We redesigned the wharf, took advantage of the amazing location, added a floor and brought in some excellent tenants,” he added.

Mr Rooney said the Manly Wharf was a landmark which had attracted significant interest from international and domestic parties, highlighting the appetite for assets which offer genuine strategic value-add opportunities.

“Manly Wharf has long been a sought-after asset given its landmark harbourfront location on Sydney Harbour, which serves as the highly patronised gateway to Manly and Sydney’s northern beaches,” Mr Rooney said.

“Investors were attracted by Manly Wharf’s robust trading performance, renowned tenant offering and flexibility around the future potential to strategically remix the tenancy profile and capitalise on multiple value-add opportunities for income and asset value growth.”