Former Wallaby great and pub stalwart Bill Young has jumped on a rare opportunity, picking up the Hardin’s Illinois Hotel Five Dock for circa $15 million.
The large pub is situated on the corner of bustling Parramatta Road and Arlington Street at Five Dock, on land totalling 1,733sqm, which includes an adjacent house. It features a public bar, bistro, gaming lounge, and first floor accommodation.
Bruce Hardin and family have owned and operated it since 2005, acquiring the asset for close to $5 million. It has been run as a sports bar and late-night entertainment venue, in line with the family’s former venues Men’s Gallery and Pure Platinum, which fell into administration in 2013 reportedly owing nearly $7 million to the ATO and creditors.
The gaming operation counts 20 machines in Band 1, with capacity for 30, and languishes at #466 on the Liquor & Gaming list of NSW pubs while the close-by Bath Arms holds position #266 and Young’s own Five Dock Hotel, bought from the exiting Lantern Group in 2016, currently ranked #60.
Young purchased Glebe’s Friend in Hand (again) in 2019, and the family also holds the proximate Concord Hotel, Mortlake’s Palace Hotel and the Wiseman’s Ferry Inn.
The Illinois was put to an off-market campaign through HTL Property’s Blake Edwards and Dan Dragicevich, finalising soon after HTL orchestrated the sale of inner west landmark, Riversdale’s Unity Hall Hotel, to an eager band of locals.
“We exchanged contracts for the Illinois Hotel on the back of a frantic few months of hotel transactions,” notes Edwards, suggesting further sales campaigns the company will be “announcing to the market shortly”.
Bill Young wore the Wallaby jersey in more than 40 games for Australia, including the World Cup Final in 2003. He reportedly plans to reposition the Illinois back to a more traditional sports bar, moving away from its dependence on the current brand of adult entertainment.
