There’s more fresh blood into Bathurst courtesy of the second sale in a week, in the freehold going concern of the big Elephant & Castle Hotel.
The Elephant sprawls across its generous 1,067sqm corner block, providing a public bar, commercial kitchen and bistro, beer garden, gaming room with three EGMs, and a previously well-patronised nightclub, under a 5am licence six days of the week. There are also six underutilised accommodation rooms and a manager’s residence.
For more than a dozen years it has been under the control of Campbell and Annette Gibson, who owned the business with partners. The Gibsons opted to sell due to plans to move out of the area and closer to the coast.
The pub has been bought by an undisclosed partnership, for a price industry sources suggest was close to $2 million.
Bathurst is Australia’s oldest inland settlement, around 200 kilometres north-west of Sydney. It is very well positioned to benefit from the trending regional migration and unprecedented interest in strong regional precincts.
This sale backs up that of the Dudley Hotel, announced last week as one of five of the MPK Hotels stable purchased by a Canberra syndicate for circa $75 million.
The new buyers are said to have big plans for the Elephant, including a major internal renovation.
Bar takings have historically brought the bulk of the pub’s revenue, with the bistro and accommodation accounting for very little and the gaming expected to benefit from updated hardware if not further machines.
Bathurst Council has mooted plans for reinvigoration of the CBD, rejuvenating key central blocks and bringing a local campus of Charles Sturt University. The town is seeing population growth and considerable potential for the right hospitality offerings.
The sale was conducted by JLL Hotels’ Kate MacDonald, who expressed the relief of the Gibsons.
“A great result for wonderful people. This transaction has been a long time coming for our vendors, and we’re delighted to be the agents to have helped with this important mandate.”
