Lawson’s picturesque Blue Mountain Hotel has sold to new capital from Sydney, seeing K2 Property Development Group partnering with Locky Paech’s Goodtime Group.
Built 1848 as the Blue Mountains Inn, the venue is perched on a high-profile 965sqm corner block, an hour west of Sydney. Likely the most iconic pub on the Great Western Highway in the Blue Mountains, it is passed by more than 22,000 vehicles each day.
The two-storey period-style building incorporates aesthetics and function, and diversified trade, offering at street level a spacious public bar, TAB and Keno, a welcoming lounge area with two fireplaces, commercial kitchen, large bistro leading to a rear deck, gaming lounge with nine machines and smoking solution, beer garden and bottleshop.
Upstairs sports a wrap-around veranda, skirting five well-appointed ensuited rooms, plus a five-bedroom manager’s residence that could make three additional letting rooms.
Established 1965, K2 is the work of veteran Sydney developer Michael Koundouris.
The Hotel is the company’s first step into hospitality, expanding on its existing commercial portfolio and current development sites, including 1A Hill Street Dulwich Hill, One Point Piper and Bondi. It is believed to be open to further hotel acquisitions if the right opportunity presents.
“We are excited to bring the Blue Mountain Hotel, Lawson into the K2 portfolio and work with the wonderful Lawson community,” said Koundouris, K2 MD.
“This fine establishment will continue to provide the surrounding area with the excellent service for which it is already known.”
K2 announces it is partnering with seasoned operators Locky Paech and Jono Spragg, from Sydney-based Goodtime Hospitality Group, which currently operates East Village Sydney, in Darlinghurst.
Established in 2014, Goodtime cites an ethos of building and operating “well-designed, innovative venues” and plans to bring high-quality food and beverage operations and good-time hospitality to the pub.
“As a ‘meeting place’, they form the focal point of local communities,” says Paech, Goodtime CEO.
“We will focus on implementing our style of food and beverage into the venue as the first point of call to complement an already solid mix of revenue streams.”
Vendors Paul and Angela O’Brien bought the pub in 2019 and executed a comprehensive makeover, doubling the average weekly revenue to around $50k for FY21.
The couple previously owned O’Briens Hotel, Narooma, for close to 20 years, and finding many of their heartstrings back in Narooma, put the pub to market late last year.
Leonard Bongiovanni of MQ & Associates sold the venue to the O’Briens, and tasked with divesting this time around says he was impressed by their rejuvenation of the much-loved local.
“Paul and Angela have done a fantastic job refreshing the hotel and growing turnover and revenue. These improvements and the redevelopment of Lawson’s retail precinct provide plenty of scope for further expansion.
“We look forward to watching K2 take the Blue Mountain Hotel, Lawson to even greater heights.”
