Landmark Bellarine Peninsula hotel made famous on TV for sale
The St Leonards Hotel and Motel has been listed for sale at 496 The Esplanade, St Leonards.
A Bellarine Peninsula waterfront hotel that came to fame through landmark television series Seachange has been listed for sale.
The St Leonards Hotel and Motel has been listed for sale with agents seeking new owners to take on both the business and the freehold to the 4950sq m location.
The bayside venue is being offered for sale by JLL’s Will Connolly and Cody Marx through an expressions of interest campaign designed to flush out potential investors and operators to acquire the landmark local.
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The property at 496 The Esplanade offers a substantial 4950sq m landholding that capitalises on the waterfront location, opposite the St Leonards beach and jetty.
The property has multiple trading zones, such as the public bar, expansive bistro, adaptable function space, drive-through bottle shop and a beer garden.
The venue also has 10 motel-style accommodation rooms that are positioned for new owners to add immediate value through a strategic refurbishment.
The St Leonards Hotel and Motel is located opposite the St Leonards beach and jetty.
The venue is the only hotel in St Leonards.
The hotel operates under a 1am general liquor licence and has a capacity accommodating up to 535 guests.
“The St Leonards Hotel & Motel represents both immediate operational potential and significant long-term value creation opportunities,” Mr Connolly, senior vice president JLL Hotels said.
“This presents a genuine opportunity to create a nationally recognised destination venue while capitalising on year-round trade growth, with the Bellarine Peninsula experiencing unprecedented expansion as both a tourism and permanent lifestyle destination.
“This is a truly exceptional opportunity to acquire and elevate a landmark hospitality asset in one of regional Victoria’s most popular destinations.”
The venue has a substantial beer garden making the most of the sunny, beachside location.
The venue has a 1am general liquor licence and can accommodate more than 500 patrons.
Mr Connolly said the property comes to market after numerous conversations with local and Melbourne-based operators.
“Given the level of interest that we’ve received from an off-market point of view, it only made sense to take it to a public process to maximise that interest,” he said.
The St Leonards venue comes to the market after Australian Venue Co repositioned the Queenscliff Brewhouse as The Esplanade Hotel in Queenscliff.
The Gellibrand St hotel sold in a circa-$6m after AVC signed a 10-year lease no the venue, which had briefly renamed the Bellarine Hotel.
“We’ve obviously had a fairly significant run of sales over the past few years in that area of Victoria, starting off with the likes of the Lorne Hotel, the Apollo Bay Hotel and the Wye Beach Hotel, an even the Collendina Caravan Park in Ocean Grove,” Mr Connolly said.
The cast of the 1999 ABC TV show SeaChange, which was filmed around the Bellarine Peninsula towns of St Leonards and Barwon Heads.
Actor Sigrid Thornton with David Wenham in scene from TV program Seachange.
“It clearly has an extreme level of potential as to what it could be with a refurbishment, and with fresh set of eyes in there,” he said.
The St Leonards pub is still trading on its connection to the quirky ABC drama Seachange, in which it was dubbed the Tropical Star Hotel in the fictional Pearl Bay (St Leonards and Barwon Heads both contributed locations for the original series, with Diver Dan’s boathouse at Barwon Heads recently reopening after a renovation).
