The well-travelled Cobb and Co Hotel and adjoining commercial property in St George, SEQ, is for sale by long-time owner Leigh ‘Lethal’ McCracken.
Established in 1886, the Cobb and Co Hotel takes its name from the storied coach company that ferried passengers between cities and bush settlements up and down the east coast, from the 1850s to the 1920s.
A classic Queenslander, with balconies on two street frontages, the Hotel offers a public bar, lounge bar and dining area, gaming room with 19 machines, beer garden and a drive-through bottle shop. Upstairs there are eight accommodation rooms and a three-bedroom manager’s residence.
St George is around 500 kilometres west of Brisbane, straddling the Balonne River. It is an area led by agriculture, growing cotton, grains, sheep and cattle, and also a popular tourist destination, with visitors drawn to the River and nearby national parks.
The Hotel occupies a prominent 951sqm corner site overlooking the Carnarvon Highway, which is a key transport corridor through central Queensland, connecting St George and Rolleston, 450 kilometres north.
The sale includes title on an adjacent commercial property, set on a 644sqm site on Henry Street.
“With the recent acquisition of the adjoining property, the Hotel now offers expansion growth through relocating the drive-through bottleshop and repurposing the old bottleshop,” offered Savills’ Joseph Ganim, marketing the asset with colleague Leon Alaban.
Selling the properties is local legend Leigh ‘Lethal’ McCracken, who has operated it for nearly a decade and is looking to retire and do some travel of his own.
Enjoying loyal local patronage, sources suggest the Hotel and additional property will fetch circa $4 million.
Already a diverse business with a strong gaming foundation, the pub stands to benefit from ‘fresh eyes’ and hands-on motivation, with ready opportunity to increase the floor space by reclaiming the current bottleshop and redeveloping the surplus lot.
“The current owner has built a solid business over the past nine years, yet there is still significant potential for further trade growth under the right ownership,” adds Alaban.
The freehold going concern of the Cobb and Co Hotel and commercial property is for sale via Expressions of Interest, closing Wednesday, 23 April.
