An unnamed Sydney investment company has snapped up seaside local the Jacobs Well Bayside Tavern for $8.5 million as market conditions bring south-east Queensland hotels further into focus.
Jacobs Well Tavern Bayside enjoys a 3,946sqm block adjacent to the Jacobs Well shopping village, and opposite Jacobs Well Tourist Park, with its roughly 100 sites.
The self-described “Best little pub in the cane fields” offers guests a public bar with “Queensland’s coldest beer”, TAB and Keno, gaming room, an outdoor deck, kids’ playground, and “great food”. It has been under the care of owner Evelyn Butterss since late 2009.
Interest from institutional hoteliers, including many outside Queensland, has brought investment into south-east regions such as the Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast, which continues in Bayside.
The new owners reportedly hold a portfolio of pubs on Australia’s East Coast, and purchased the Tavern following an expressions of interest campaign by Greg Bell, Scott Wells, and Ross McVean of Ray White Commercial Gold Coast, who report interest in the asset was “quite staggering” and brought over 130 enquiries.
“As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, there’s more interest than ever before in the Sunshine State, with pubs and taverns with coastal links proving to be like gold-dust,” says Bell.
The agents suggest the state’s overall affordability, coupled with its strong position in control of the virus and the historically low interest rates, is making for an environment they have “simply never seen”.
“We’re expecting there to be a big uplift in migration here in the next generation and that’s why we’ve seen massive demand from interstate for secure asset classes like these.”
Ray White reports the level of demand has triggered two more listings off the back of the Tavern sale. Details as they become available.
