Jon Adgemis’ Public Hospitality Group has beat major developers to buy the well-known Noah’s Backpackers on Bondi Beach for $68 million.
Noah’s occupies a prominent 1,087sqm site at the world-famous Beach, comprising two corner buildings configured for 260 beds and offering a rooftop with spectacular ocean views.
Like most businesses catering to this market it was hard hit by the global pandemic, but as international borders reopen steady trade is again resuming.
A sales campaign through Colliers’ Miron Solomons and Matt Pontey in conjunction with Oxford Agency’s Daniel Marano and Ralph Garofano pitched the property as one of Sydney’s biggest development opportunities.
Price guide on the asset, which included the four-storey block of flats above a laundromat next door, was understood to be circa $70 million.
Holding a 12.5-metre height limit, before any potential to negotiate higher with Waverley Council, the opportunity attracted a range of big-name players, looking to its potential for a hotel, residential or mixed-use development.
A company owned by the Harkham family bought Noah’s in 1997 for $5.6 million. Three years later they bought the adjacent laundry and apartments for $8.5 million.
PHG is amassing a collection of Sydney pub-style venues in which it can provide a strong mix of accommodation and hospitality. The portfolio already includes Camperdown’s Lady Hampshire, Town Hall in Balmain, and Darlinghurst’s Empire Hotel and recently relaunched Strand Hotel.
PHG director Peter Crinis says in the short-term the group will upgrade the existing before strategically planning a unique boutique hotel, he says “will fit in with such a beautiful location”.
