Pub king Arthur Laundy has snapped up another Top100 pub, paying long-time owner Martin Secheny $35 million for the Bidwill Hotel – the latest addition to the Laundy local area.
Occupying a generous 4,300sqm block in the north-western Sydney suburb, the Bidwill Hotel offers a spacious public bar with single service point, gaming with 30 EGMs, large beer garden and car park.
The gaming room was designed by Paul Kelly and recently debuted in the Top100 of the Liquor & Gaming list of NSW pubs, having climbed 142 places since early 2019.
Further appealing to the Laundy group’s new-found predilection for construction, the Bidwill’s large block holds attractive development fundamentals.
Vendor Martin Secheny has owned the pub since 2005 and saw market conditions as ideal for attracting “fair market value”.
The Laundy empire now counts over 70 venues in NSW and Queensland and saw the well-patronised business as beneficial to cashflow.
“We’re following a very good publican,” notes Laundy. “He’s done all the hard work and we’ll hopefully continue things.”
Sydney’s booming north-west growth corridor is tipped to become home to an additional 250,000 residents over the next decade, and Laundy is working toward a major stake in the region.
Laundy Hotels already counts the nearby Plumpton Hotel and Arthur’s personal jewel in the crown – the very large-format $45 million greenfield build Marsden Park Brewhouse, which he opened in April last year.
The Bidwill Hotel is roughly midway between these, but also close to no less than three new Laundy hotel construction projects due to begin in 2021.
“We’ve got other hotels in that area,” he says of the latest addition. “We’re looking forward to it.”
Beyond his build and buy frenzy in Sydney, Laundy and business partner Fraser Short paid $16 million in September for the 54-Ha The Farm at Byron Bay, said to be one of Australia’s most famous rural properties. Plans are yet to be announced.
Sale of the Bidwill asset, which settles in February, was managed by HTL Property’s Sam Handy, Dan Dragicevich and Andrew Jolliffe, who report a keenly contested campaign that spoke to the “magnetism” of the hotel asset class.
“We anticipated that there would be intense interest in the hotel, and this was the case as evidenced by the fact we achieved an unconditional exchange within three weeks of listing it,” said Handy.
Agents anticipate 2021 will quickly follow the “dynamic” transaction landscape being seen in the closing stages of the year, as seen in Sam Arnaout’s $45 million purchase of the Narwee Hotel, Justin Hemmes’ $32 million taking of The DOG Randwick, and Moelis’ $63 million takeover of Taylor Square with first the Courthouse and last week purchase of Kinselas Hotel.
