NEWS PROPERTY

The opportunity to write the next chapter of a well-known Toowoomba watering hole is now available. The 5 Ways Hotel at 2 West Street in North Toowoomba is being marketed for lease through Ray White Commercial Toowoomba. Fronting two main streets, the hotel has a public bar, dining room, gaming room, TAB outlet and Keno, as well some accommodation upstairs and a drive-through bottle department and is located on one of the main access roads to the Toowoomba Range Crossing. While the hotel is currently not trading, it has a rich history within the town, where it has served as a meeting point for more than 50 years. Ray White Commercial Toowoomba Sales and Leasing Consultant Geoff Percy, who has been appointed the market the property, said the owners were offering great incentives for someone to reopen the venue.

Iconic Brisbane pub The Elephant Hotel has been acquired by a Sydney-based hospitality operator for $20 million. Independent pub group Tilley and Wills Hotels will add The Elephant to its portfolio of Sydney-based assets including the Verandah Bar, the Clovelley Hotel and the Greenwood Hotel. CBRE’s Paul Fraser says the sale of The Elephant Hotel, located in Brisbane’s nightlife precinct Fortitude Valley, is further proof that interstate and international pub operators are interested in the potential of Queensland’s venues. “Such is the profile of the pub, there were 60 enquiries and eight offers,” says Fraser. “It highlights the appetite for large format freehold hotels with a diverse income stream and obvious operations upside.” Since 2013 more than 70 per cent of all Brisbane-based venues sold for over $10 million have been acquired by interstate or foreign-based hoteliers according to JLL Hotels & Hospitality. The Elephant Hotel is a multi-level building with four separate bars, a large outdoor beer garden, and a gaming room with 42 pokie machines. The sale of the pub means John Singleton’s Australian Pub Fund no longer holds any Queensland assets.

A landmark pub and popular late-night stomping ground in Brisbane’s Fortitude Valley is set for a mammoth revamp after being snapped up by an interstate pub group. The Elephant Hotel, a historic four-level pub, at 230 Wickham St has changed hands after a $20 million-plus deal was struck with Sydney-based Tilley and Wills Hotels. It is the first foray into the Brisbane pub market for the independent group, which has purchased the watering hole as a freehold going concern from advertising guru John Singleton’s Australian Pub Fund.

Esperance’s iconic Stonehenge is on the market as Jillian and Kim Beale look for new owners for the local landmark. Management of the tourist attraction is being handed to long-term employee Dianne Witt today, as the Beales return to Bridgetown for retirement. The couple moved to Esperance 48 years ago with $630 in their bank account and a passion for the picturesque landscape and tight-knit community. The 137 Esperance pink granite stones became available in 2010 after the replica of the prehistoric English monument was commissioned through Australasian Granite Company but never built. The Beale property is only 1km from where the stone was quarried and a friendship with mine manager Tony Holten piqued the couple’s interest in the 2.5 tonnes of granite. “We put up the first stone at the end of February 2011 and just carried on working and finished it 3.15pm on the 26th of October 2011,” she said. “We had people already coming to visit us when we were building because obviously they thought that we were a little bit exceptional. “We had over 16,000 people up our drive last year and that number will be even higher in this 12-month period.” The stones sit on an 89ha property alongside the Beale’s former home, sheds and cattle yards. It was was sub-divided from the larger 430ha property last year. Situated on the well-travelled road to Cape Le Grand, the local Stonehenge overlooks the ocean and the town of Esperance. Mrs Beale said property has “huge potential” in a time of a tourism boom in Esperance and she hopes to pass the land to local hands. “We would very much like to see Stonehenge sold to a West Australian company or family,” she said. “We’re just hoping there is a visionary out there who has the will and the excitement to drive this place forward. “We have certainly built it, we have lifted it up and got it on a really good footing — someone can certainly make it fly if they invest in a few additions to the property such as a brewery, cafe or even glamping.

Award-winning Marlborough Sounds eco-lodge is on the market following more than 20 years development by its owners. Locals Shayne Olsen and Louise Bright have hung the “for sale” sign out on Lochmara Lodge in Queen Charlotte Sound, a 20-minute boat taxi ride from Picton at the top of the South Island. The eco-lodge buildings and business includes one of New Zealand’s only two underwater aquatic observatories.The other is in Milford Sound. The pair bought the Marlborough Sounds property more than 20 years ago, and then invested in pest control and habitat planting before opening a backpackers in 1998. That was followed by a studio and gallery and then a Wildlife Recovery Centre in 2005. Two years later chalets and a restaurant were built. The property includes several buildings and 4392 hectares of freehold land and is across the Queen Charlotte Sound from Picton, where the ferries between the North Island and South Island dock and cruise ships visit. Fourteen chalets and studio and one bedroom units can accommodate up to 40 guests a night while the cafe-restaurant can accommodate up to 70 guests for breakfasts, lunch and dinner, catering for day trippers and groups who arrive in their own boats or on the lodges’s scheduled water taxi from Picton. Nightly rates at the chalets range from $245 to $280 and at the units from $100 to $198. The owners established over the years eco-tourism activities, working with the Department of Conservation to run wildlife rehabilitation and breeding activities and supporting the Marlborough Sounds Wildlife Recovery Centre founded in 2007, real estate marketing agents Bayleys Marlborough said. The centre has an endangered species breeding programme to help grow local species like geckos and kakariki parakeets. Several walks wind around through the bush and around the hills near the lodge for guests and members of the public to use. In 2010 the lodge was award the Department of Conservation in Action award for the owners’ contribution to conservation and the environment. And in 2012 Lochmara Lodge was the overall supreme winner at the Marlborough Chamber of Commerce business awards. Bayleys Marlborough real estate agent Kurt Lindsay said there had been good interest in the property and business from all over the country. Because the property included the coast it was deemed sensitive land under Overseas Investment Act legislation, he said. Investors, tourism operators and mums and dads had inquired about the property and several information packs had been sent out including financial information which required those asking for it to sign confidentiality agreements. The owners placed the property on the market in 2014 but did not sell it at the time.

A sprawling guesthouse which played host to American soldiers during World War II and was most recently run as a luxurious Tablelands getaway has been sold. Williams Lodge on Cedar St, Yungaburra, went under contract last week with the new owners preferring to remain anonymous.

Karratha’s Tambrey Tavern — believed to be the largest hospitality venue in the North West — has sold, with sources revealing a price tag of about $7 million. With a licence for more than a 1000 people, and turning over more than $13 million a year, it has long been a local favourite. However, its popularity did not stop it falling into the hands of receivers McGrathNicol in April 2017. It was sold recently by Ryan McGinnity and Chloe Mason of CBRE Hotels. The tavern sits on two lots spanning 2.59ha and includes a tavern, bistro, function centre and an 850sqm super-sized retail liquor store. Mr McGinnity says the sale highlights renewed confidence in the sector with a number of buyers missing out on the asset. “As the resources sector improves, CBRE expect buyers to focus on the North West and the higher returns it offers,” he said.

A slice of Olinda real estate paradise has hit the market. The reception venue and cafe are nestled in Parks Victoria’s Dandenong Ranges Botanic Gardens, located within the Yarra Ranges public gardens. The botanic gardens have more than 15,000 rhododendrons, 12,000 azaleas, 3000 camellias, 250,000 daffodils and cherry trees. The 42ha garden is within walking distance of the Olinda township. Fletchers Yarra Ranges director Glenn Gardiner said the space had recently been renovated, and had a reception area that could fit between 120 to 150 people. He said the gardens attracted hundreds of thousands of visitors a year, and Parks Victoria had been expanding the foliage. The cafe is running with a long lease and the space has its own entrance, so parking is available when the park is closed. “There are alfresco decks which can be used for a function,” Mr Gardiner said. “The cafe is trading very well, with staff.” The 550sq m venue is on the market for $380,000, and interested parties can phone Mr Gardiner on 0418 376 144.