The De Angelis family has picked up the Macquarie Hotel in the heart of the Liverpool CBD for $43 million, representing a return to beginnings and the end of an era for Monarch and its powerful backers.
De Angelis Hotels & Investments (DHI) holds a diverse portfolio of nearly a dozen Sydney pubs, including the proximate Moorebank Hotel and Macarthur Tavern in Campbelltown.
But Peter De Angelis says there were also sentimental reasons to support the move into the Macquarie.
“Dad is a Liverpool boy. He had his first beer at The Macquarie and paid 11 cents. Thank God for inflation!”
Building on a portfolio in an area experiencing some of the most rapid residential and commercial growth in the country, De Angelis says there’s no hurry to decide what will be done to further the Hotel.
“We are excited about this one, particularly given the density changes going on in Liverpool regarding Heights and FSRs.
“We won’t change much for now. The current offering works well as is.
“Getting a transaction of this magnitude over the line in the current environment was not without its challenges, but we have a strong presence in this part of the Liverpool CBD, so a block purchase made sense at the very least.”
Late 2019 De Angelis spent a total of $65 million in acquisitions, adding the freehold of its Ingleburn Hotel and the freehold going concern of the Raby Tavern to the collection.
The three-storey Macquarie Hotel enjoys double street access on 1,062sqm, offering bistro, 17 hotel rooms, bottleshop, function room and 30 EGMs. It benefits from nearby public parking and Westfield Liverpool.
Joel Fisher’s Monarch Hotels took the keys late 2016 for $34 million, purchasing from Andrew Lazarus’ Eastern Hotels Group, which had bought it from JDA in May 2015 for $25 million.
The sell-down of Monarch follows that of Fisher’s Illawarra-based Denfish portfolio, divested to Redcape in late 2018 for $50 million.
The end of Monarch also brings to an end a decade of ongoing involvement in the sector by Värde Partners and York Capital, which backed Monarch toward the end of a period as keepers of Redcape, later sold to Moelis before being listed on the ASX.
“It’s been a great journey for Monarch, with five years support from Värde and York, who have been valuable partners and long-term industry investors.”
Fisher also reports construction of the impressive Waterfront Tavern at Shell Cove, purchased through his latest vehicle, Balmoral Hospitality, is on track and set to open March or April, followed by the area’s entertainment precinct in June.
The Macquarie Hotel marks the biggest sale to date for 2020, managed by HTL Property directors Dan Dragicevich and Andrew Jolliffe, continuing a relationship with Monarch that brokered sales of the fund’s Banksia Hotel, Belmore Hotel and Lidcombe Hotel.
“We’re pleased to have delivered our client another benchmark sale, and one which serves to support our consistent and public advocacy for the comparative attractiveness of the hotel property market in times of broadscale uncertainty,” says Dragicevich.
Jolliffe says the Macquarie is the firm’s 25th property sale this calendar year, amounting to $292 million.
