King of the south Chris Feros has formed a new partnership with the Harveys to take the booming Engadine Tavern and adjoining retail sites from rich lister Tony Denny and partners.
The large-format Tavern is in Engadine town centre, surrounded by leading retailers such as Woolworths, Coles, ALDI, and Dan Murphy’s. It was purchased by Denny along with property developer Gavin Duffy and hotelier Peter Ashelford, with planning approval in place for 64 luxury residential apartments on the hotel’s adjacent car park.
The partnership leveraged its expertise and immediately began the development, which included subdividing it from the hotel. The Heritage Apartments are now under construction, and reportedly close to fully sold out.
Engadine Tavern itself generates annual revenues north of $7 million, across diverse departments of bar, bistro, gaming with 26 machines, wagering and retail liquor. It holds a 1am liquor licence.
Set on a 1,660sqm lot, the sale includes another 1,275sqm of adjacent retail tenancies.
The combined properties have been purchased by publican Chris Feros in partnership with long-term friends Judd, Steve and Greg Harvey, for a total of around $35 million, making it the highest price to date for a pub sale this year.
While Feros Hotels don’t typically seek partners, the Feros’ were already interested in working with the Harveys, who operate Sydney’s iconic Cheers Bar, and when this sale came to their attention things fell into place.
“Dad and I are extremely excited we’re finally doing something together, as it’s just a great fit for who we are and how we do things,” beamed Chris.
Dominating Sydney’s south, the Feros portfolio already counts local landmarks such as The Prince at Kirrawee, Highfields Hotel in Caringbah and the Taren Point Tavern, and soon, courtesy of recent approval, Parc Pavilion at Cronulla.
Feros says the Engadine suits their model “perfectly” and he is eager to continue engaging in the region they call home.
“We’ve got a stronghold in the community, we’ve got the opportunity to pool our resources and work with the community there,” he says.
Next door the Heritage Apartments will bring a hundred-plus new residents, and will provide some parking for the pub, which also holds scope to activate the upper floor into an outdoor area.
There is a large, largely unused function space and Feros says he sees “real opportunity” in better utilising the footprint, but in the immediate they plan to give the pub a spruce ahead of a DA and far larger renovation. Having also purchased the adjacent shops, the future could see further projects, potentially involving Chris’ kids.
“We want to take our time and get it right,” he states. “We want to hold it to the level we’ve got all our other venues.”
The Engadine freehold going concern came to market late 2022 in a campaign through HTL Property’s Dan Dragicevich, Sam Handy and Andrew Jolliffe, along with Highland Commercial Property.
The complex sale is said to have generated interest from both hoteliers as well as developers, land bankers and investors attracted to the strategic land holding.
“The sale to a well-regarded and experienced organisation such as the Feros Hotel Group, is a distinct vote of confidence in the hotel sector, and exemplifies a flight to quality, high floor value assets,” notes Dragicevich.
