Two enthusiastic nearly-newcomers have taken the keys to Rozelle’s former Ruby L’otel turned Native Rose Hotel.
Matthew Younger and Kaine Costello have purchased the lease on the Native Rose from Mark Fethers and Tanya Maystrovoich, securing a deal for 17 years with options.
The pub is located on bustling Victoria Road, adjacent to Balmain and just four kilometres from the Sydney CBD. Michael Huang purchased it in 2015, executing a major makeover, rejuvenating its bar, bistro, spacious beer garden and eight upstairs accommodation rooms, and refreshing the gaming offering.
After operating it himself for a time, Huang moved on to other interests and took Fethers and Maystrovoich as tenants.
Younger and Costello have been mates for 25 years, and beyond their love of a good pub have spent considerable time behind the scenes of the local.
Younger has a fit-out business that has done a lot of pubs, while Costello’s father owns the Lewisham and Petersham Hotels, having divested his interests in the Exchange at Darlinghurst and Petersham’s White Cockatoo.
The pair have clear ideas on where they will take the Rose of Rozelle beyond making a traditional pub “look amazing”.
“We want to make it extremely family-oriented,” Younger says. “It’s that type of area, and we have a restaurant area out the back, which gives us the opportunity to offer to families as well as locals.
“We want to maintain the original look of the bar and plan on focusing on the atmosphere and getting feedback from the community and our patrons to ensure the pub is their local.
“We’re looking forward to it.”
The transaction was brokered for the outgoing tenants by JLL Hotels’ Kate MacDonald, citing a strong result amid recent premium-free tenancy deals.
“We were able to secure our vendors with a very favourable exit price,” said MacDonald.
