Billionaire property doyens the Roche family have divested their ‘out of step’ Irish Tavern and Lodge in Harrington to a party of publicans led by Glenn Knight.
Proprietor to the Laurieton Hotel Motel, a little south of Port Macquarie, last year Glenn Knight stepped up the portfolio with purchase of the Bago Tavern, in Wauchope, around 30 kilometres north.
He has now secured keys to Harrigan’s Irish Tavern and Harrington River Lodge at Harrington, about 70 kilometres south of Port Macquarie, for a combined price sources say was circa $16 million.
Operated under management, together the properties generate $4 million in annual revenues.
They hold a combined 18,247sqm, including 200 metres of absolute river frontage. The large-format tavern offers a public bar, designated TAB, commercial kitchen and bistro, gaming room with 14 PMEs and a spectacular waterfront beer-garden.
On a separate title, the Lodge accommodation comprises 21 well-appointed 4-star units, swimming pool, function room with capacity for over 100 guests and an ultra-luxury three-bedroom owner’s residence.
Rich-listers Bill and Imelda Roche came to fame through their skincare company Nutrimetics, which they sold in 1997.
Their attentions then turned to tourism and property development. The town of Harrington was a major beneficiary, finding Roche investment in infrastructure, including a golf course and the broadacre land development for over 1,200 homes.
The couple were said to have a net worth of $1.5bn when Bill passed away, aged 87, mid-2022.
Son Dominic has been steering day-to-day operations in the family’s business, and citing it was “slightly outside of their core” interests listed the property last October.
The sale campaign attracted the gamut of buyers – developers, accommodation specialists and traditional hoteliers – said to have been drawn to the assets’ build quality and the extensive land holdings.
Agents, HTL Property’s Andrew Jolliffe and Xavier Plunkett, did not disclose the sale price, but confirmed it was in line with market guidance – thought at the time to be around $16 million.
“Undoubtedly, Glenn has owned and operated some of the best hospitality assets on the mid-north coast of NSW, and we are excited to see what he can deliver for the Harrington Community,” remarked Plunkett.
Flowing on from a record calendar year of pub sales, punctuated by successive rises in the cost of borrowing, the start of 2023 is not showing signs of abatement.
HTL report sales it has already announced this month, namely the Village Inn at Darlinghurst, Waugh and Lawler buying Newcastle’s The Commo and now the Roche divestment, were each “at or above market guidance”.
