Ben McBeath and new partners have taken on Darlinghurst’s storied East Village Hotel, as Locky Paech’s outfit looks to the next move.
Located on the high-profile corner of Liverpool and Palmer Street in Darlinghurst, the former Tradesman’s Arms was built at the conclusion of WWI, in 1918. It became known as The Bloodhouse in the 1920s due to its popularity with the Kings Cross razor gangs of the day.
Goodtime Hospitality, fronted by Locky Paech and former business partner James Bodel, bought the East Village early 2016. They undertook a $1.6 million remodel and repositioning to align it with its present day market.
The three-storey pub comprises three distinct levels, seeing a sleek wine bar and footpath seating at street level, commercial kitchen and the plush and cosy athletic club on level one, topped by a popular rooftop bar boasting CBD skyline views and a cornucopia of ferns, flowers and other greenery.
It currently reports in excess of $70K weekly revenue.
Goodtime briefly offered up the thriving operation at the start of 2020, immediately prior to the pandemic.
The leasehold has now been purchased by a new syndicate headed by hotelier Ben McBeath, along with Brian Sarkis and Mathew Orr, to usher in Tipple Time Hospitality.
“Ben, Mat and I are excited to refresh an already brilliant establishment. It has the best rooftop view in Sydney, and we can’t wait to hit the ground running,” offers Sarkis, who is the current licensee of ArtHouse Sydney. Orr is licensee of the Great Northern in Newcastle.
McBeath’s portfolio counts the Arthouse and Great Northern, and TreeHouse Hotel at North Sydney. He says Sarkis and Orr have worked for him for a long time and he is glad to be seeing their next vertical step in the game.
“They’ve been incredible employees, now I think they will be incredible partners.”
Tipple Time will ease into the East, as McBeath doesn’t want to “shake things up too much” too soon.
“It needs a bit of love on the ground floor. We’ll definitely put a lot of energy into that space, as we do at all my properties.
“It’s fantastic to see the East Village enter its next phase, and we’re looking forward to taking it on.”
After eight years on the job, Paech is said to be eyeing his next move and while he remains tight-lipped for now, hints that “it’s big!”.
Having sold the freehold interest in 2020, JLL Hotels’ Kate MacDonald was engaged to shop the business off-market, and notes the continued interest in leaseholds
“In the current interest rate environment, investing in a long-term lease appears to be of increasing appeal.
“The team at JLL continues to field enquiries from astute hoteliers looking to diversify and boost cash flows within their portfolios.”
