Pyrmont’s revived Terminus Hotel has returned to market, thriving in a populous precinct almost a decade since it was rescued from beneath a mountain of ivy andmany years of neglect.
Occupying a 493sqm corner of Harris Street, the historic Hotel is one of Sydney’s oldest licensed establishments, first serving punters on Christmas Eve in 1841 as the Cooper’s Arms Inn. In the early 1900s it was rebuilt and in 1911 renamed the Terminus Hotel in recognition of its location at the end of the tram line.
Enigmatic socialites Isaac and Susan Wakil bizarrely bought it in 1984, still trading, but the couple closed it and it remained shuttered for 30 years. They finally sold it to developers Auswin TWT, wielding plans to develop the pub’s large carpark into luxury terraces.
Having no use for the pub itself, Auswin then sold it to loyal locals David Mathlin and Binu Katari, who claimed a long history in Pyrmont and wanted to see the abandoned local pouring again.
One of the many interested parties in the sale was pub king Arthur Laundy, who owned the nearby Quarryman’s and although the timing didn’t suit him on acquiring the Terminus, said at the time it “could be the best pub in Pyrmont”.
The new owners battled complex heritage issues for plans to modernise the tired building, investing a further $5 million on a meticulous reconfiguration and refurbishment, before proudly throwing open the doors again in early 2018, for the first time in over three decades.
An expansive two-level trading footprint provides elegant bars and multiple outdoor areas including a greenery-covered beer garden, with modern food and beverage facilities and approved capacity for around 320 patrons. Upstairs there are nine well presented and restored accommodations rooms.
Pyrmont has an affluent resident and large worker population, and the Terminus enjoys limited competition when compared to other inner-city precincts and reports annual revenue north of $4 million across bar, dining and accommodation.
It is being sold in an Expressions of Interest campaign through HTL Property’s Andrew Jolliffe and Sam Handy, closing 11 December.
“The Pyrmont peninsula is surrounded by numerous high profile masterplanned mixed-use redevelopments, supporting infrastructure projects, business headquarters and employment hubs,” notes Handy.
