Luke Ainscough has expanded his Windsor region collection, taking the re-stapled freehold going concern of the well-known Fitzroy Hotel.
The Fitzroy was established around 1852 on a generous 1,319sqm site in the heart of Windsor’s retail and commercial zone. The two-storey pub holds a 3am licence and diverse trading, with 16 EGMs, reporting total annual revenue of $1.8 million.
Michelle and Craig Thomson took on the lease from Mesh Hotel in 2017, negotiating new terms and repositioning the business to suit the changing demographics.
The Windsor region continues to see strong population growth and demand amid land releases for residential development. Sydney’s North-West Priority Growth Corridor is slated for over 33,000 new homes, to accommodate 250,000 new residents.
Shortly before the lockdown the Thomsons agreed to join the freehold stakeholders to re-staple the business and property and offer the freehold going concern to market.
There has been strong interest in the region, drawing veteran Peter Wynne to Richmond’s Royal last July for $18 million, and Ashton Waugh to the nearby RG McGee’s in November for $6.5 million.
The sale of the Fitzroy, believed to be north of $4.5 million, brings some scale for another publican still relatively new to the precinct.
“It is Luke Ainscough’s second hotel acquisition in the region after purchasing the Clarendon Tavern through us in 2018,” notes Sam Handy, HTL Property director, who managed the campaign with colleague Blake Edwards.
Ainscough was able to negotiate an agreement for the Hotel with the two vendor entities, the freehold interest controlled by receivers and managers BRI Ferriers, and HTL notes the arbitrage opportunity of freehold going concerns over the OpCo/PropCo model.
“We are currently in discussions with other landlords and tenants about re-coupling their assets in order to take advantage of this most recent market paradigm,” added Edwards.
