Paddington’s Unicorn Hotel sells to mystery eastern suburbs pub baron
The Unicorn Hotel at 106 Oxford Street in Paddington has been sold ahead of auction.
Paddington’s iconic Unicorn Hotel has been sold ahead of its auction next week to a high net worth pub baron from the eastern suburbs.
Offered to buyers fully tenanted, the building at 106 Oxford Street was purchased for an undisclosed price after coming to market with expectations “north of $10m”.
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Sales agents Paul Grasso, Steffan Ippolito and Will Dawson of IB Property were tight-lipped about the price and who the mystery purchaser was.
The pub had a guide of $10.5m during the campaign.
Mr Grasso would only reveal the buyer was a local high net individual from the eastern suburbs who owns a number of other pubs.
The agents had over 350 inquires on 106 Oxford Street and showed 30 groups through the pub including Merivale boss Justin Hemmes and prominent investor Vaughan Blank.
Mr Grasso said Hemmes opted to not make an offer on the Unicorn Hotel because the site was tenanted.
The strong pre-auction sale comes as the Sydney commercial market roars back to life with confidence levels soaring in the wake of the pandemic.
“We are seeing a 35 per cent increase in the number of contract requests from last year,” Mr Grasso said.
Over 350 groups inquired about the property during the campaign.
Unicorn Hotel serves classic pub dishes including chicken schnitzel. Picture: Richard Dobson
“Everyone is becoming more confident to invest and buy commercial real estate at the moment.”
The building makes an average $500,000 net profit per annum with the downstairs pub leased to Mary’s Group co-owners Jake Smyth and Kenny Graham and interior designers Studio McQualter in the office space upstairs.
The Mary’s Group has been operating the pub since 2015 and serves up classics such as Unicorn meat pies, chicken schnitzel and Mary’s Burgers. Studio McQualter is a very famous interior designer with a global client base, including Zimmerman.
The Unicorn Hotel is described as an exceptionally well-maintained two-storey mixed use freehold building plus basement.
