Major developer Mulpha has offered to market the renowned Cove Tavern, within the prestigious Sanctuary Cove Marine Village on the picturesque Gold Coast waterway.
Cove Tavern is the only commercial hotel-licensed venue within the premier lifestyle destination of Sanctuary Cove, which counts more than 3k residents, a 377-berth marina, two championship golf courses and the 5-star InterContinental Resort.
It is the sole provider of liquor and gaming in the world-class destination, offering a public bar, sports bar and TAB, bistro, gaming room with 20 machines and a walk-in bottleshop.
The Tavern benefits from major events such as the Sanctuary Cove International Boat Show, attracting around 41k visitors each year, and is well positioned to see more visitation and demand due to the upcoming Brisbane Olympics.
It currently reports annual revenue of approximately $5.6 million.
Further trade boosts are identified in increasing the gaming machine count, as the venue has approval for 28 EGMs.
Also, there is the ability to expand into an adjacent premise, adding to the current premise and trading footprint, to potentially include complementary uses such as further bars or a larger bistro, function spaces or entertainment areas, with marina-front vistas.
The entity of Mulpha Sanctuary Cove, which owns the whole of the Sanctuary Cove village, previously had a tenant operating the Tavern leasehold but has been managing it themselves for the past few years.
Mulpha is offering a new 20-year lease to the “ideal tenant” to bring its vision for a revitalised Tavern to life, seeking an operator embodying creativity, flexibility and a passion for hospitality keen to be at the helm of creating a vibrant and fresh venue that contributes to the Cove’s status.
Mulpha is an experienced retail landlord offering flexibility on terms and structure and it’s anticipated the successful party will undertake a substantial renovation and refurbishment.
The northern corridor of the Gold Coast is experiencing significant residential and infrastructure growth, seeing new rail and road projects at Hope Island and Coomera.
Furthermore, leaseholds in south-east Queensland have been particularly active in recent times, as demonstrated by Redcape’s acquisition of leases in 2025 at the Flagstone Tavern in Brisbane and Orion Hotel in Springfield.
A campaign on the sale of the Cove Tavern is being managed by HTL Property’s Daniel Dragicevich, Andrew Jolliffe and Glenn Price, who note the SEQ market has seen a noticeable uptick in cross-border investor activity, counting Roosters chairman Nick Politis’ sale of the Treetops Tavern last month for a state record price of $50 million.
“The Cove Tavern offers the opportunity to help shape the future of Sanctuary Cove’s hospitality landscape; a rare, scalable hospitality platform in a high-growth, affluent precinct,” says Dragicevich.
Expression of Interest on the Cove close Wednesday, 22 July, with inspections strictly by appointment. Applicants are advised to provide a high-level outline of their vision, strategy and delivery capabilities, along with a financial expression of interest detailing proposed lease terms.
“Whilst already a strong trader, with significant inherent business goodwill, there exists potential in expanding the venue offering, modernising facilities, activating additional gaming capacity, and leveraging its strategic location and growing local demand,” added Dragicevich.
