Newcastle icon Finnegan’s Hotel has been sold for the first time in decades, with the Hunter family handing over to established locals.
Positioned prominently at the intersection of busy King and Darby Streets, opposite Newcastle Civic Park and City Hall, Finnegan’s is a handsome two-storey Art Deco hotel brimming with street appeal. It incorporates public bar, bistro, and gaming with 15 machines.
Ownership also includes an adjacent 2-storey office building, currently vacant, which is suited to being incorporated into the pub footprint (STCA).
Paul and Bill Hunter and family have held the property for around 20 years, and recently opted to offer it via an off market campaign through HTL Propety’s Blake Edwards and Dan Dragicevich, who report taking no time to find a buyer.
“We immediately introduced the parties and after a very short negotiation, commercial terms were established that both parties were pleased with,” says Edwards.
Signing on for the freehold going concern are veteran Newcastle publicans Cath Antaw and Stewart Smith, who currently operate Teralba’s Great Northern Hotel.
The couple are remaining tight-lipped with their plans for Finnegan’s, at this stage.
“We are genuinely thrilled that we are going to be the new owner of this great pub,” exclaims Smith.
“We have thoroughly enjoyed dealing with the Hunter family and look forward to working with them towards settlement.”
2024 ended with a real estate bang that saw the Gravanis brothers’ Oscars Hotels buy the world-famous Luna Park, Solotel pick up three of Jon Adgemis’ troubled Public Hospitality pubs, and Redcape acquire the Willow Hotel, Commercial Hotel and Lucky Tree in SEQ – as it sold its Cabramatta Hotel and El Cortez to Iris in the biggest two transactions of the year.
“The market surged at the back end of 2024, and consequently remains strong heading into 2025, hence we are anticipating positive incremental growth in asset price and elevated transaction volumes comparative to recent years,” noted Dragicevich.
