Jim Knox continues his New England penchant with purchase of both the Imperial Hotel in Inverell, and freehold of the Royal Hotel in Tingha.
The two-storey Georgian Imperial was built on an expansive 2,063sqm lot on a major corner, and offers a public bar and TAB, gaming room with 10 EGMs, commercial kitchen and bistro, function room, 23 pub-style accommodation rooms, and plenty of onsite parking.
Inverell is a strong blue-collar town of 14k residents, north-west of Sydney, just over 200 kilometres west of Grafton. It boasts good employment and a thriving rural economy underpinned by operations such as the Bindaree Beef abattoir, employing over 600 locals.
Long-time operator Michael Painko has owned and run the pub for close to 20 years and put it on offer in March 2020 – a week before the first national pandemic shutdown – reporting revenue from bar and gaming at $20k per week, and price expectation north of $3 million.
It has sold now on a buy-side mandate from the acquisitive Jim Knox for a total price understood to be approaching $6 million, and including the freehold title on the Royal of Tingha, from the same vendor, which is leased to a long-term operator.
Knox has been steadily buying in select regional areas, seeking upside opportunities. He found a monopoly in Moree, buying all five pubs, for circa $28m.
The Imperial stands to benefit from reclaiming the leased-out kitchen, reviving the accommodation, and providing a smoking solution for the gaming operation.
Xavier Plunkett of HTL Property brokered the deal and says Painko “did well” biding his time, while Knox is looking to his own benefits.
“The purchaser was attracted to the strong local economy, the highly favourable competitive environment, and proximity to existing portfolio assets.”
These two reportedly tally 16 New England region hotels sold by HTL in recent times, worth approximately $100m, including Knox buying the Whitebull Hotel in Armidale for circa $13.5m last July.
HTL notes the level of activity forms the basis of its prediction that investors will continue looking to sub-metro locations for quality opportunities.
