Thirst for pub properties grows

The historic Balmain Hotel.
The historic Balmain Hotel.

August could be the month for hospitality investors to wet their whistle, with a slew of high profile pubs and hotels hitting the market across Australia.

Balmain’s historic Exchange Hotel is the latest hotel set to sell, with the three-storey licensed venue to go under the hammer next month.

The hotel, built in 1885, features two bars, a restaurant, a function room and balcony seating and is situated on a prominent corner site at the heart of the Sydney suburb.

The Exchange Hotel was built in 1885

The Exchange Hotel was built in 1885

CBRE Hotels will sell the freehold for the pub at 94 Beattie St on August 20, with director Daniel Dragecevich describing it as a rare opportunity that would attract considerable interest.

“The Exchange Hotel is a Balmain institution held in high regard by those in the industry. With its larger footprint than most of its competitors, there is the definite potential to build on the already impressive cash flows of the business,” Dragecevich says.

“The Sydney metro pub market is exceptionally strong at present and we expect the purchaser appetite for this asset will be a further example of this.”

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The news comes after it was announced that three pubs tenanted by hospitality giant Australian Leisure and Hospitality Group and owned by businessman Bobby Zagame were to be sold via international expressions of interest.

The Seaford Hotel is ranked as one of Victoria's top gaming venues

The Seaford Hotel is ranked as one of Victoria’s top gaming hotels

Queensland’s Kondari Hotel in Hervey Bay, as well as Victorian pubs the Seaford Hotel and the Royal FTG Hotel in Ferntree Gully, are expected to sell for around $90 million combined.

Single tenant properties that are leased to leading ASX listed companies such as that of Woolworths are in the highest demand from buyers in well over 30 years

The Seaford Hotel is ranked in Melbourne’s top 10 gaming pubs and has a new Dan Murphy’s liquor shop attached, while the Kondari Hotel has 35 gaming machines, a two-lane drive-through bottle shop and a 68-room motel. The Royal FTG Hotel also has gaming operations.

The Royal Hotel in Ferntree Gully is to be sold

The Royal Hotel in the Victorian suburb of Ferntree Gully is to be sold

CBRE Hotels and Cropley Commercial have been appointed to sell the three-hotel portfolio. CBRE Victoria senior director Mark Wizel says that ALH being 75% owned by Woolworths will work strongly in the three properties’ favour.

“Single tenant properties that are leased to leading ASX listed companies such as that of Woolworths are in the highest demand from buyers in well over 30 years,” he says.