Francis Venues has joined forces with the landlord at the Boronia Hotel to send the big suburban restapled pub to market.
The large-format single storey Boronia is located in Melbourne’s densely populated eastern suburbs, next to the train station, in the heart of the retail precinct directly opposite the Woolworths-anchored Boronia Junction shopping centre and the Coles-anchored Boronia Mall.
Set on a commanding 7,053sqm corner site with capacity of 543 patrons, it counts a sports bar with TAB, expansive family bistro and children’s play area plus for-hire private kid’s party room, internal beer garden, gaming lounge with 80 EGMs, two designated outdoor smoking areas and 135 onsite car parks.
The site is dual zoned Commercial 1 and Mixed Use, benefitting from Boronia’s designation as a ‘Major Activity Centre’ under the Victorian Government’s Metropolitan Planning Strategy 2017-2050, expected to bring a suburban focal point for services, employment, housing, public transport and social interaction
The family-owned Francis Venues bought the business in 2021 as part of a collection sold by Zagame group for $99 million, around the same time as a private investor acquired the freehold.
The pub group is undertaking multiple projects, extending hotel spaces and developing what are billed to be ‘entertainment precincts’, and explain the sale comes as they see the Boronia better suited to an owner and operator geared toward high-rise developments.
“We’re looking to acquire more hotels in the west and east with large footprints that can be developed and enhanced,” furthered group CEO Tom Francis.
Sale of freehold operations in Victoria are always rare and frequently significant. Recent examples include the freehold going concern of Bells Hotel in South Melbourne sold to Peter Filipovic’s Saxon Group mid-2025, and this month the FGC of the Greensborough Hotel sold to Signature Hospitality.
Representing a gaming and entertainment complex at a scale seldom available in the city, underpinned by existing trade volume and substantial real estate with redevelopment potential, sale of the Boronia is the most significant hotel asset of its type for sale in Victoria in recent years.
“The Boronia Hotel presents a compelling convergence of strong operational performance and solid real estate fundamentals—the precise combination that interstate hotel groups seek when evaluating Victorian assets,” suggests JLL’s Will Connolly, marketing the property in conjunction with Steve Cropley of Cropley Commercial, who anticipates a “spate of significant activity” to wind up the calendar year.
“The respective owners have identified that the hotel is best suited to an owner-operator, not only from an operational perspective but also to enable the incoming owner to realize the genuine long-term development potential of the property, given its favourable zoning and Boronia’s recognition as a ‘Major Activity Centre’,” adds Connolly.
The freehold and business of the Boronia Hotel is to be sold via Expressions of Interest, closing Thursday, 20 August.
