Representing an in-demand opportunity in a growth region, the Gunnedah Hotel of Gunnedah has come up for sale.
Positioned on a corner in the town’s high retail street, the Gunnedah is a large, two-storey structure on 2,921sqm, offering multiple bars, TAB, bistro and commercial kitchen, function room, courtyard beer garden, gaming room with 12 PMEs (Band 3 SA2), 3am trading approval, and 28 refurbished accommodation rooms – ten with ensuites.
The rooms are currently enjoying 80-90 per cent occupancy, patronised by a steady stream of cashed-up, skilled workers coming to town for projects in the area.
Title on the Hotel also includes around 1,200sqm of underutilised land at the rear, ideal for development (STCA).
Daniel Whitten owns the freehold and partners with Luke Prout in the leasehold. The pair have the same arrangement at the Tamworth Hotel.
They purchased the Gunnedah early 2019 from Chris and Kim Gibbs, who had owner-operated it since 2011.
Whiten and Prout say they have reached their goals, and are “100 per cent” looking to the next purchase.
“We bought an old pub, we’ve done a beautiful renovation and it’s now trading at a level we’re really happy with,” says Whitten. “It’s time to move on to the next project.”
Throughout the pandemic, the pair have done the “heavy lifting’ of getting the accommodation rooms renovated and the bistro firing, and suggest it is now a good opportunity for someone wanting a renovated country pub to walk in and run, with nothing left to spend.
Situated in one of the fastest growing agriculture centres in NSW, 475 kilometres north-west of Sydney and 40 minutes from Tamworth, Gunnedah was inspiration for Dorothea Mackellar’s famous poem My Country (aka I Love a Sunburnt Country).
The town is home to the annual AgQuip festival, Australia’s largest agricultural field day, and the pub unofficial home to those that come to celebrate.
Literature reports around $55k weekly revenue, although the operators say there is still COVID recovery upside to be had.
And while the rooms had a mere “refresh” they already bring good GP for the business, and along with the undeveloped land offer further potential in a town that needs more accommodation.
Sale of the Hotel is through JLL Hotels’ Kate MacDonald and Greg Jeloudev, who note the scarcity of quality on-market regional opportunities.
“The Gunnedah provides a legitimate run-up-start for an investor looking for regional assets that tick all the boxes for success, including quality of the building, accessibility, gaming entitlements, accommodation, land size, and operational upside,” says MacDonald.
The freehold going concern of the Gunnedah Hotel is being sold via Expressions of Interest, closing Thursday, 22 September.
