Newcastle favourite the Delany Hotel has been put to market, amid the ongoing local construction boom and big-ticket sales.
Known affectionately by locals as ‘The Del’, the stately two-storey hotel was built in 1924 and occupies a 1,685sqm site on a prominent retail corner at the heart of the hospitality precinct in Cooks Hill, with 14-metre height limit and 2:1 FSR.
It counts a popular bistro and public bar, gaming room with 22 EGMs, and benefits from a large council car park directly to its rear. The gaming operation currently holds ranking of #536, with scope to increase to 30 machines.
It also has five unutilised motel-style accommodation rooms, on the first floor.
Marvan Hotels bought the property in April 2018 from long-time owner Gary Hird.
The Newcastle CBD was showing rapid development, seen then in the massive $750 million East End residential project, and now in the $160 million Wests Group redevelopment at 309 King Street.
Marvan went about executing a $2.5 million renovation to The Del’s public bar and gaming room, and hold plans for a second stage, with Luchetti Krelle, to modernise the ground floor bistro areas and first-floor bar.
Although it holds a 2am liquor licence, which is approved by ILGA, with a six-hour gaming shutdown, the pub is currently only trading to midnight, and there is an application in place for this to be extended.
[Update 19 October: A meeting on Tuesday night saw Newcastle councillors voted to allow closing time of 1am for Friday and Saturday nights, on a 12 month trial basis, with deputy mayor Declan Clausen citing that the proposed 2am closure would be inconsistent with the city’s after dark strategy.]
Hotel sales nationally have already surpassed the record level set in 2021, and inspired by local transactions and unsolicited offers to sell, Marvan opted to put off the extended renovation plans and test the market.
Recent sales, such as by the Kearney family of the Beauford in Mayfield, Nancy Duggan at the Northumberland in Lambton and Andrew Lazarus’ Beach Hotel in Merewether to Glenn Piper, have drawn “remarkable buyer appetite” and agents expect extensive interest in The Del.
Sales literature cites weekly revenues in excess of $200k across bar, gaming, wagering, bistro and retail liquor, and it is likely to fetch a price comparable with the Beach, which went for $38 million.
“The patent renaissance of Newcastle as a true capital city has been well documented, with Cooks Hill positioned to benefit from the myriad infrastructure and private development projects on its doorstep,” says HTL Property National Director, Dan Dragicevich, marketing the asset with colleague Andrew Jolliffe.
The freehold going concern of the Delany Hotel is being sold via Expressions of Interest, closing Wednesday, 16 November.
