The Laundy-Flower North Coast Investments partnership has further expanded its Port Macquarie fleet, taking the family-sized Tacking Point Tavern for around $47 million.
Industry cornerstones the Laundy family have teamed up again with Mr Port Macquarie Alistair Flower to buy the big pub in the NSW mid-north coastal town – consolidating the partnership that began in March, with their $25 million acquisition of the town’s Mercure Centro Hotel.
Taphouse Hotel Group (THG) put the property to market in April, in conjunction with the heritage-listed Port Macquarie Hotel, aka ‘The Macca’, which transacted last month for circa $57 million.
THG still owns the Chinderah Tavern, Kingscliff Beach Hotel, and Beach House restaurant, attached to Port Macquarie’s Rydges Hotel.
Tacking Point Tavern is a large-format family-friendly pub adjacent to a major shopping centre, with multiple bars, gaming, a spacious beer garden with Port Macquarie’s largest outdoor screen, and boasting a recent $10 million refurbishment.
Arthur Laundy offers that he has admired the way the Mattick family’s Taphouse Group has conducted its businesses and says they were an “absolute pleasure to deal with”, and sees strong potential in the region, partnership and industry.
“We recently acquired the Mercure Hotel in Port Macquarie with Alistair, and look forward to furthering our family’s relationship with him via this next exciting purchase.
“We will continue to look at opportunities both in capital cities and in regional centres in order to grow our family business, and to leverage the experience and scale we’ve built over three generations.”
The incoming owners feel they can tweak some aspects of the operation, including adding an all-weather option in the beer garden, but emphasize the Tavern is well-run, benefitting from a good renovation in a quality precinct.
Alistair Flower says they will “continue the great work” already being done, while looking to capitalise on their increasing scale. This marks the ninth venue in the Flower Hotels stable in the broader region.
Beyond his strength in and knowledge of the area, in which there are a limited number of pubs, the Tacking Point Tavern was once part of the National Leisure & Gaming (NLG) collection, where Flower was group operations manager, and around a decade ago he spent some time running the place.
“There are still some great opportunities locally, but I have a real affection for this one,” says Flower.
“It’s a quality pub today, and it will be even better in 20 years.”
The Laundy partnership stems from mutual respect, consolidating what they see as a common purpose toward quality, family-friendly, community-led hotels. Flower suggests they want to build on their strengths in the Port Mac community.
“Laundy Hotels have obviously got great supplier scale, and I’ve got localised operations and engagement through what I’m doing. Its’ a great partnership.”
The price reported is understood to be in line with market guidance, and emblematic of a hotel possessing the classic criteria sought by clued-in investors, including the pub’s central position on a generous 6,700sqm lot, allowing multiple entrances.
“The Tacking Point Tavern ticks all the investment fundamental boxes that astute large-format hoteliers gravitate towards – efficient tavern-style reconfiguration, 270-degree onsite parking, and strategically located adjacent a retail precinct within an exclusive neighbourhood trading catchment,” explains HTL Property’s Dan Dragicevich, who marketed the assets with colleague Andrew Jolliffe.
Around four hours’ drive north of Sydney, Port Macquarie LGA already counts more than 87k people – and only eight hotels – and massive housing growth, on new property developments bringing thousands of new dwellings, amid infrastructure and demand drivers seen in the airport, hospital, university and tourism.
“People are making Port Mac their home, because all these attributes make it a great place to live,” offers Flower, who himself made the sea change a few years ago and hasn’t looked back. “I’m the perfect example of this.”
Having met today with THG’s operations manager to begin what he anticipates will be a respectful transition, Flower says he’s already getting a taste of The Tav in plans to switch from all Lion beers to a 50/50 split incorporating CUB products.
“The locals told me they’re keen to get hold of some Reschs and Great Northern, ‘coz it’s been a while.”
