Following appointment of administrators to the Damian Kelly portfolio, sale of the four thriving pubs has begun.
Andrew McCabe and Joseph Hayes of insolvency and restructuring experts Wexted Advisory were appointed as Administrators and are buoyant on a strong campaign to sell off the assets.
“Given the locations and level of interest received to date, we anticipate a lot of interest in the sale of the venues,” says McCabe.
Wexted appointed HTL Property’s Andrew Jolliffe, Dan Dragicevich, Sam Handy and Blake Edwards to sell the Pub Invest portfolio, comprising the Rose & Crown of Parramatta, Crown Hotel in Surry Hills, Corrimal Hotel in Wollongong, and the North Nowra Tavern.
A public sale campaign is scheduled to offer the pubs via two tranches, beginning with the Rose & Crown and Corrimal hotels. The Crown Hotel and North Nowra Tavern are expected to follow in mid-March.
The Rose & Crown is located at the northern fringe of the Parramatta CBD, where it will benefit from the billions of dollars in development and infrastructure in nearby projects, such as Parramatta Square Masterplan, the new light rail network, and Commbank Stadium.
It holds a 24-hour liquor licence, and full complement of 30 gaming machines, consistently ranking in the Liquor & Gaming Top150 of NSW pubs.
The asset is also tipped to attract interest from developers, given its B4 mixed-use zoning, 26-metre height limit and 4:1 FSR approvals.
“The Rose & Crown Hotel represents an extremely rare opportunity to both enter the high performing Parramatta pub market and the Top150 gaming segment,” suggested Dragicevich, who sees both these factors in hot demand.
The large-format Corrimal Hotel is situated in a retail and commercial precinct, adjoining Corrimal Village Shopping Centre, six kilometres north of the Wollongong CBD.
It encompasses a diversified business, also with a 24-hour liquor licence but with only 23 gaming machines, which while consistently ranking Top250 provides upside potential given the hotel’s positioning in an Amber zone SA2 region.
The pub is also proximate to the 18-hectare former Corrimal Coke Works site, closed in 2014, which has been rezoned for a residential master planned community slated for approximately 550 new dwellings.
Kelly and investors purchased the pub in 2016, and in 2018 invested $2.5 million in an extensive renovation and refurbishment.
“The Corrimal Hotel is one of the state’s most profitable coastal hotels – a segment of the market that has garnered perhaps the most market attention during these disrupted years,” says Handy, who suggests the pub holds all the intrinsic fundamentals for a sub-metro hotel.
This forced sell-down of the Pub Invest (aka Peak Investments) portfolio follows that of the Stanford family’s Bittini Portfolio in Q4 of 2021, netting approximately $160 million and achieving razor-sharp yields.
Agents suggest market appetite for A-grade hotels remains unsatisfied across the country, and expect widespread interest from both experienced hoteliers and sophisticated funds chasing opportunity.
The Rose & Crown and Corrimal Hotels are being sold individually, via Expressions of Interest campaigns, closing Wednesday 2 March.
