Wielding an approved DA, Andrew Lazarus is offering up the renovation-ready Beach Hotel on Merewether Beach, in Newcastle.
The large-format Hotel resides on a picture perfect 1850sqm site with panoramic views of Merewether Beach – the home to Australia’s largest surf carnival, Surfest Newcastle – and just three kilometres from the heart of Newcastle.
The multi-level corner pub, with three street frontages, was built around 1939 but there has been a pub on the site since the late 1890s.
Its legendary beer garden draws patronage from far and wide, and its local legend puts it on par with the likes of Byron’s own Beach Hotel, Manly’s The Steyne, Cronulla’s Northies and the Collaroy Hotel.
Revenue is balanced across restaurant, bars and gaming.
Late 2019 Lazarus bought the freehold going concern through his Zenith Hotels vehicle, being the first sale of this type in its history, from long-time owners Jim Bale and John Twohill.
After suffering through the COVID shutdown and turmoil of 2020, a DA was submitted early 2021 to respectfully renovate the heritage-listed pub.
The $3.1 million upgrades included moving live music from downstairs to the underused first floor, decking out a terrace to optimise the coastal views, increasing capacity and extending the regular trading hours to what the licence allowed.
Council staff issued approval, citing the plans and proposed plan of management were acceptable.
But following resident complaint submissions, it was subsequently rejected by the City of Newcastle’s Development Applications Committee, Lord mayor Nuatali Nelmes among those expressing concern over resident issues, particularly around late trading and potential anti-social behaviour.
The group held community consultation in December, and Zenith Hotels director Peter Lazarus presented amendments to the plans, which included an 18 per cent reduction in the venue’s capacity.
Taking the matter to the Land and Environment Court, last week the decision was overturned and the renovation proposal approved.
Once complete the refreshed Beach will activate the first floor and elongate trading hours, including the introduction of a state-of-the-art early opening café.
It stands to benefit from the ongoing $8.5bn government and private sector investment into Newcastle, including the airport and CBD.
Finding himself increasingly focused on other projects, mostly closer to Sydney, Lazarus has opted to sell the reno-ready pub before pressing the button on the new refurbishment. The current market is likely to see sale price around $40 million.
“Having owned this iconic hotel for a number of years, we find ourselves at a juncture having sought and received a shape-shifting DA that will positively transform the business for the next 50 years of its life,” he says.
Following its listing last week of the nearby Commonwealth Hotel, Lazarus engaged HTL Property’s Dan Dragicevich and Andrew Jolliffe to market the asset and opportunity, who note how infrequently such institutional pubs become available.
“Very few hotels nationally enjoy the vista the Beach Hotel enjoys, and whilst already a powerful mixed revenue hospitality operation, the new DA lends itself to greatly augmenting the prowess the business already promotes,” suggests Dragicevich.
The freehold going concern of the Beach Hotel Merewether is being sold via Expressions of Interest, closing Wednesday, 23 March.
