Queenslander snaps up popular Sydney pub for $31.5m

The Queensland buyer is expected to proceed with residential development on the Engadine Tavern’s Station Street site. Picture: Getty
The Queensland buyer is expected to proceed with residential development on the Engadine Tavern’s Station Street site. Picture: Getty

The COVID-19 impact on Sydney’s pub scene has clearly not ­affected high-net-worth sales, with a private Queensland ­developer paying about $31.5 million for a sprawling suburban pub deep in Sydney’s southern heartland.

In his first foray into the pub scene, the little-known developer has bought the Engadine Tavern from private equity group White & Co, which had picked it up for about $23m three years ago.

White & Co has since secured a planning application for a residential development on the hotel and commercial property site, which covers about 5576sqm.

The sale of the Engadine Tavern — which sports 26 poker ­machines, a TAB, a 60-space private car park and a stand-alone drive-through bottle shop, as well as a large function centre — was negotiated by HTL Property’s Dan Dragicevich, Andrew Jolliffe and Sam Handy just before Christmas.

It is the only pub in Engadine and is 270m from the railway ­station.

The Queensland buyer is expected to proceed with residential development on the Engadine Tavern’s Station Street site.

It is understood he has previously developed residential units in Sydney.

The article originally appeared on www.theaustralian.com.au/property