Kings Cross landmark O’Malley’s Hotel, just metres from the iconic Coca-Cola sign, has come to market as a blank canvas with multiple upside opportunities.
The 967sqm four-storey William Street property has been listed for sale under instructions from receivers and managers Morgan Kelly and Phil Quinlan of KPMG.
It enjoys an elevated corner with three street frontages, holding a 24-hour liquor licence, 15 gaming machines with a prized three-hour weekend shutdown, and 15 well-appointed accommodation rooms (most with ensuites) on the first and second floors. Rooms on the top floor boast sweeping views of the Sydney CBD, Harbour Bridge, Opera House, Domain and Woolloomooloo Finger Wharf.
The site also holds future redevelopment potential, subject to the relevant approvals, due to its existing 15-metre height approval, B4 Mixed-Use zoning and 2:1 FSR. This includes scope for additional rooms to be added to the upper floors, to capitalise on demand.
The precinct is finding continued growth and demand drivers, such as work at the Holiday Inn, Kings Cross Centre, railway station, and the adjacent Woolworths Shopping Centre.
Jakbn Property Group have held the title for around 16 years, and sources suggested to PubTIC a partnership dispute is the primary reason behind the sale.
The Hotel ceased trading in December – a little too late to benefit from the recently repealed ‘lockout laws’ that have plagued Kings Cross for the better part of the last decade.
Now a blank canvas for an incoming operator, it presents both business and mixed-use development upside channels and strong interest is expected from a range of hospitality operational profiles as well as property investors and developers.
KPMG appointed HTL Property’s Andrew Jolliffe, Daniel Dragicevich and Sam Handy to market the asset, but a price guide was not provided.
“The O’Malley’s Hotel is a very rare city fringe freehold exhibiting all the key fundamentals astute purchasers search for in hotel opportunities – arterial, corner junction positioning, late-trading flexibility – as well as substantial accommodation and gaming inventory,” suggests Dragicevich.
This continues a number of Sydney CBD-fringe sales in recent years, including Laundy’s sale of the Quarryman’s Hotel in Pyrmont to Colin Parras, following his purchase of Bells Hotel in nearby Woolloomooloo, and more recently Moelis’ buy-up in Taylor Square.
HTL bode there are “strong economic and property markers” currently at play in the national hospitality landscape.
O’Malley’s Hotel is being sold via Expressions of Interest, closing Thursday, 8 April.
