What could be Sydney’s “most intriguing hotel” has been listed for sale, after laying dormant for 32 years.
Located on a prominent corner on what was the last stop on the old tram line out of Sydney, the Terminus Hotel was once a thriving meeting place for local factory workers.
The enigmatic Isaac and Susan Wakil purchased the property in 1984, and it has not operated since. The Wakils are successful immigrants that made a fortune in fashion and prudent commercial investments. Now in their 80s, with no heirs, the very private couple sold a large site on Harris Street to developers TWT Global around 12 months ago.
TWT Global will be undertaking a large scale development on the site, but the hotel is superfluous to their needs and has been put up for sale.
The property still holds a hotel licence, currently dormant, and agents expect the current market will see “one of Sydney’s most intriguing hotel properties” fetch around $6-7 million.
Only a few blocks from Darling Harbour and the modern light rail, the corner site holds massive potential as either a revived hotel or other development. Ray White Asia-Pacific director Andrew Jolliffe is marketing it in conjunction with JLL Hotels’ commercial specialist James Aroney.
Both agents have been involved in significant similar campaigns, such as Jolliffe’s sale of the Australian Hotel in Chippendale, slated to have a 15 storey twin-tower complex built above, and Aroney’s marketing of the $40 million freehold sale of Bruce Solomon’s Golden Sheaf Hotel.
“Whilst development simply roars in the surrounding Pyrmont and Darling Harbour precincts, this beautiful piece of Sydney’s hotel history has lay dormant, awaiting its opportunity to be reborn,” said Jolliffe.
“We’ve seen some very strong interest from both developers and astute food and beverage operators in respect of sites that will respond well to the transformative change taking place in a handful of key Sydney suburbs.”
