Insolvency outfit KordaMentha is sending two properties in the Steller portfolio off for mortgagee auctions next month. The sadly demolished Greyhound Hotel site is slated for auction on November 22, followed a few weeks later by the Como Private Hospital in Parkdale. Steller, the property development company steered by Nick Smedley and Simon Pitard, crashed in July, leaving more than 20 property projects on the rocks, including the redevelopment of the historic Continental Hotel in Sorrento. KordaMentha is acting for Sydney-based Atlas Advisors while McGrathNicol is acting as receiver on behalf of Asian-based financier OCP. The infamous Greyhound, a popular gay pub, was demolished more than two years ago by a previous owner. The 911 sq m corner property at 1 Brighton Road has a permit for a seven level building in a Commercial 1 zone. CBRE agent Julian White, Mark Wizel, David Minty and Chao Zhang are handling the auction. It was most recently for sale in the low $6 million range.
October 16, 2019
The O’Donnell family has offloaded Goulburn’s Empire Hotel to a private buyer for $3.55 million. The pub, which returns an annual revenue of $1.3 million, sits on a 1587sq m site with development potential. It also has 9 rooms.
October 16, 2019
The 23-room Box Hill Motel in Melbourne’s Burwood has sold to a developer for nearly $6 million. The property at 177 Station Street, leased to the hotel operator until May, sold on a yield of 2.95 per cent. The 4041sq m site, which offers residential development potential, exchanged at nearly $2 million above price expectations. Savills’ Nick Peden, Jesse Radisich and Benson Zhou in conjunction with Nelson Alexander handled the sales campaign.
October 16, 2019
The busy Balmoral Hospitality Group has put one of Brisbane’s top gaming pubs, the Acacia Ridge Hotel, up for sale with price expectations of around $35 million. The large-format hotel at 1386 Beaudesert Road – about 15 kilometres south of the Brisbane city centre – includes 45 gaming machines, a bottle shop, multiple bars, conferencing facilities and 43 hotel rooms. It last changed hands for $26.5 million in March 2017 when it was sold by Sydney publican Peter Calligeros and his business partner Stephen Farley. The buyer was Acacia Ridge Hotel Project, a company with connections to the White family private equity vehicle White & Partners. The ownership structure has changed since then, with selling agents HTL Property confirming the vendor of the freehold going concern was Sydney-based Balmoral Hospitality Group. The group, led by Joel Fisher and Andrew Denmeade, has been active in the greenfield pub market, after acquiring a site in the Flagstone housing estate in south-east Queensland and another in The Waterfront housing development at Shell Cove. Selling agents Glenn Price, Andrew Jolliffe and Dan Dragicevich from HTL Property said the Acacia Ridge Hotel consistently ranked at the top end of Queensland’s Top 10 Gaming Hotels lists. “The Acacia Ridge Hotel is an incredibly rare opportunity in a tightly held sector of the market,” said Mr Dragicevich. “Astute investors have an opportunity to purchase a substantial commercial property, and a reliable cash-flow business with strong fundamentals and clear value-accretive opportunities in key departments,” he said. Mr Price said the hotel would also appeal to property developers with mixed and alternative use opportunities available to extract from the underutilised aspects of the 18,450sq m corner block. Under its current ownership, the hotel has undergone a $2.5 million upgrade.
October 4, 2019
After 15 years running a remote hotel through fire, flood and snow, the owners of an iconic Tassie hotel have called last drinks. They have operated through fire, flood and lots and lots of snow, but Great Lake Hotel owner Kaylee Hattinger poured her last pint today after 15 years at the helm. Ms Hattinger said it was the regular customers and the people who frequented the Central Highlands establishment that she would miss most. “The characters who come to the pub every day. We’ve become their family and they’ve become ours,” she said. Ms Hattinger said the hotel was so much more than a pub, it was an integral part of the Great Lake community. “We help with search and rescue, we put up emergency services workers, we provide safe haven for helicopters and crew when required.” In January, bushfires ripped through the highlands and threatened the property. “During the recent bushfires, we were the base for the firefighters, we fed them and so on. It’s what you do in a small community.” Ms Hattinger said the area had seen its share of natural disasters over the years. “About five years ago we had catastrophic drought. The lakes were at critical and non-recoverable levels. Then seven weeks later we had flooding and the bridge to Bronte washed away.”
September 10, 2019
The hospitality and retail hub at the centre of one of the biggest multi-purpose recreational and tourism operations in the Greater Auckland region has been placed on the market for sale. Matakana Country Park in the rural township of Matakana just north of Auckland is a 17.97 hectare site encompassing multiple food and beverage operations, tourism and leisure activities, a large outdoor event and concert-hosting venue, equestrian arena, and several boutique retail outlets. Matakana Country Park was developed by entrepreneur John Baker in the early 2000s. The property sits at the axis route separating the affluent holiday-home enclave of Omaha Beach and its rustic beach and Department of Conservation park neighbour Tawharanui to the south. Matakana Country Park was sold in late 2017 to commercial property developer Brendan Coghlan who is now upgrading the park with the objective of increasing tourist numbers to the site. Mr Coughlan has placed the commercial component of Matakana Country Park on the market for sale in order to fund the extensive redevelopment and improvements to the surrounding infrastructure.
September 9, 2019
Centro Group of Companies has bought the Best Western Plus Lake Kawana Hotel in Birtinya after an expressions of interest campaign on behalf of the vendor Triple B Motels. Centro director Michael Carr said the hotel will be added to the group’s growing accommodation portfolio. “We are also excited to announce that there will be a rebranding of the hotel to an international brand,” he said. The 4.5-star hotel opened in November 2015 and has 81 suites, a licensed restaurant and bar Wildfire and two adjoining function rooms.
September 4, 2019
Facilimate Hotels is continuing to expand with the acquisition of the 82 room Coral Cay Resort in Mackay, Queensland bringing the total to six hotels in Australia that Facilimate Hotels currently owns and operates. Managing Director Stephen Lauder said, “Our investment strategy is driven by the desire to purchase attractively priced hotels with vacant possession in key cities and regional markets. Then with a refurbishment, new sales and marketing approach and centralising support services we are able to reposition the hotel”.
