Thumping food-based pub Welcome to Bowen Hills in Brisbane is testing the market, as its Melbourne-based owners tune their interstate business model.
The curiously named Welcome to Bowen Hills (WBH) represents the second instalment of the concept by 100 Burgers Group – proprietors of the immensely successful Welcome to Thornbury, ironically in Northcote.
Both Bowen Hills and Thornbury are large-format dining concepts based around food trucks.
The Brisbane venue, less than 10 minutes from the CBD, boasts around 1300sqm, 700 of this under cover, with 1000-pax capacity and 1am trading. 100 Burgers has been operating it since early last year on a 10-year lease, with a further 10-year option.
The Group holds a string of premises in Victoria, also including Carlton’s Prince Hotel, the Mint Hotel in Melbourne and Hightail in Docklands, as well as a chain of seven Bells Hot Chicken stores, five Mr Burger outlets, and shares in pioneering Mexican concept Mamasita.
Group CEO Dehne Bingham believes their typical inner-north-Melbourne style has legs around the country, but as the group expands, they see merit in local partnerships with skin in the game.
“We’re starting to focus more on pubs and probably learning a few lessons, and want to make sure we’ve got an operating partner model if we do want to move outside of Melbourn,” he says.
It is this preference that sees WBH come to market – primarily in search of a suitable operating partner on the ground every day. Bingham says they have invested “a lot of love” into the venue already, and first preference is to stay involved.
“We’re looking for a JV first, but we have some openness to a complete sale,” he explained.
The indoor-outdoor space could be evolved into an urban version of ‘Eat Street’, and readily lends itself to a greater entertainment focus, furthering an approach begun by 100 Burgers that they concede has not been optimised remotely.
The WBH opportunity has been put to tender through JLL Hotels’ Mat George in Melbourne and Tom Gleeson in Queensland, who see it as a strategic location, and a rare offer for an emerging hospitality professional.
“The Group developed and opened WBH in what is still and up-and-coming area, and have great confidence in the business, which is seen in their eagerness to remain part of the operation,” says Mat George.
The leasehold operation of Welcome to Bowen Hills is for sale via Private Treaty.
