The Fanatical Warren Livingstone has sold his booming Captain Cook of Botany to Kent Walker for twice the purchase price four years ago, as the south Sydney precinct’s ship comes in.
Established as the Captain Cook Inn in 1880 on arterial Botany Road, the large suburban watering hole enjoys a prominent retail position with plenty of foot traffic. The picturesque pub offers a public sports bar, bistro, gaming room with 30 machines, attractive outdoor area, and 11 ensuited motel rooms.
Livingstone is the founder of Fanatics, bringing sports-related goodness to fans of multiple codes.
His award-winning Highclere Hospitality Co purchased the Captain Cook in 2020, taking the keys just five days before the nation and all pubs shut for COVID, in March. Livingstone reports that when they reopened the new owners were “welcomed with open arms” as people rushed back to their prized drinking establishments.
He says The Cook is a “proper pub” with an island bar populated by locals, full every day of the week with people who have grown up nearby.
“It’s been a great pub, and I am sad to see her go because it’s one of my favourites.
“Great locals, a great front bar and the best beer garden in Sydney, designed by the great Will Dangar, who has an office up the road.”
Since acquiring the hotel Highclere has extensively renovated and injected significant capex into what was a rather tired, blue-collar venue.
“We worked hard to change the demographic,” furthers Livingtone.
“We spent some money on the beer garden, gaming and sports bars and stopped the topless barmaids. I think that was probably the best decision we made as it changed the demographic quickly. It hasn’t scared off the locals or the high vis who still come, but it is also full of females and families who come seven days a week.”
While having owned it for only four years Livingstone says it wasn’t an easy decision to sell, but other opportunities beckon.
“I think Kent will go well here; I hope he will enjoy it as much as we have.”
Walker’s Lesday Hotel Group has secured The Cook for circa $35 million, bringing the collection to 11 venues across the Sydney metropolitan area and Wollongong.
The sale price represents a healthy return for Highclere, which paid around $17 million in 2020.
Highclere went on to pick up the Australian Hotel at McGraths Hill mid-2022, marking the first time it had ever been sold, in 131 years.
And later that year, Livingtone snatched the Rose & Crown at Parramatta for $42 million from Damian Kelly’s Peak Invest, as Kent Walker took Kelly’s Corrimal Hotel.
Marking a stark contrast to the big-ticket Botany sale, the four-storey namesake Captain Cook Hotel in Paddington was just sold by Bruce Mathieson without its EGM licences for $6.6 million, after the pub baron paid $13.5 million in 2022.
As the Captain of Paddo ends its journey as a watering hole, destined to become a backpacker hostel, its Botany counterpart displays the key fundamentals of a successful pub, and coupled with the burgeoning Bayside LGA and ongoing development enjoys sustainable earnings growth.
The transaction was managed by HTL Property’s Dan Dragicevich and Andrew Jolliffe, who note transaction volumes are “demonstrably up” on the same period last year, and that this result is a product of strategic asset management.
“Highclere have overseen an outstanding transformation of the Captain Cook into a vibrant local community hub, now catering for a broad section of clientele and establishing the venue as a genuine drawcard for the area,” noted HTL National Director, Dan Dragicevich.
