In what could be record short time on the market, Dean Haritos has signed over the deeds to his booming Verandah Hotel to an unnamed “well-known Sydney hotelier”.
The price was reported to be “comfortably in excess” of the $9 million price expectation suggested at the campaign launch – just last week.
Haritos manages numerous other business ventures, and conceded the sale was due to his increasing commitments away from the Verandah, and persistent approaches to buy it by interested parties ready to snap up the goldmine 29-year lease.
Occupying a mezzanine level between Castlereagh and Elizabeth Streets, the Verandah consists of multiple bars, an upmarket restaurant, two expansive alfresco areas overlooking both streets, and a gaming room ranking #282 on L&G’s list of NSW hotels.
But beyond its booming trade and $7+ million annual turnover, it will soon benefit massively from major public works, effectively both removing major competition and trekking up to 10,000 commuters per hour past its doorstop via a new metro station.
Maintaining the suspense, Haritos says the sale was a “necessary recalibration” of his life, and he is leaving his last pub in good hands.
“I’ve thoroughly enjoyed my time working with a fantastic management team and with a business which is such a focal point for many valued clients, and I’m absolutely sure the pedigree of the new owner will only mean an improvement upon the foundation that has been created.”
The sale process was managed by Ray White Hotels’ Asia-Pacific director Andrew Jolliffe, who disclosed the unnamed buyer “applied deliberate and very motivated acquisition practises” and noted the campaign’s need to hit the ground running.
“We were patently aware of the level and quality of interest that a strategic advertising campaign would generate from this market, and consistent with this view, we were readily engaged by a number of particularly well credentialed parties within a very short period of time.”
