Grafton’s generous Good Intent Hotel and adjacent retail shopping complex have been sold to a growing pub syndicate for a reported record price for the region.
Hotelier Reg Hinch and builder Reg Want built the Good Intent in their home town back in 1957 at a lavish cost of £90,000, which equates to more than $2.8 million today. The “ultra-modern” venue boasted elegant tiled bars, dining facilities, a large beer garden and 16 bedrooms. Occupying a generous 3,325sqm block on an arterial road, it has since come to include a gaming room with 15 EGMs but no smoking solution.
Grafton is roughly midway between Coffs Harbour and Byron Bay, and counts around 19,000 residents. The district has undergone major infrastructure works, as seen in the new $788m Clarence Correction Centre, bringing hundreds of families to live and work in the area.
Since Reg Hinch passed away the pub has been operated by his son Rod and wife Sharon Masen. After half a century of original ownership, the family listed the freehold going concern as they eyed retirement.
Welcoming the opportunity, a “large north-coast NSW pub syndicate” has secured the asset, looking to add the Good Intent to its growing collection of owner-operated pubs.
Reporting revenue of just over $1 million, the circa $5 million sale is a strong result and said to be a record price paid for a pub in the Clarence Valley LGA.
The Good Intent is the only suburban hotel offering in South Grafton, and given the projected shortage of short-stay accommodation in the area will likely hold significant upside through its unused rooms and under-performing gaming offering, plus the clear potential in bringing the food business back in-house.
“The Hotel exhibits many desirable trading characteristics sought after by the most experienced and successful publicans, including a large land holding with ample car parking, and its prime positioning on a major arterial road with easy street access to industrial zones and strong blue-collar employment levers,” reports HTL Property’s Xavier Plunkett, who steered the campaign with colleague Blake Edwards.
“Whilst the lion’s share of the trade is sourced from the robust gaming and bar revenue centres, the additional $100,000 per annum in passive retail rent from the adjoining shopping centre provides investment protection through profit source diversification.”
HTL reports multiple pub sales in the Northern Rivers region in the past 12 months, including the Coolangatta Sands, Ivory Tavern and Australian Hotel Ballina, and suggests the increases being seen in regional visitation and revenue make assets such as the Good Intent more attractive than ever.
“This transaction is a vote of confidence in both the very fertile Northern Rivers economy, and the regional hotel market generally as it avails itself to investors seeking different capital preservation and equity return profiles,” notes HTL MD Andrew Jolliffe.
