New locals have taken the Fitzgerald prize, adding Mudgee’s historic Paragon Hotel to their growing portfolio.
Built 1857 amid the region’s goldrush, the hotel was originally known as the Bushman’s Home. Around a decade after it was established it was renamed the Paragon.
It occupies a prominent corner of Perry Street and Gladstone streets, providing a cozy single-service public bar, gaming room with six machines, a modern, pavilion-style beer garden area, and 13 pub accommodation rooms upstairs.
The Hotel enjoys loyal patronage by both locals and travellers, generating weekly revenue averaging over $80k, at times peaking at more than $100k.
Mudgee continues to thrive as an attractive tourist destination and commercial hub for the region. This is reflected in the forecast that the local population will increase by 32 per cent by 2041.
This sale transaction included the Paragon Hotel, plus a residential cottage at 82 Gladstone Street, and five strata-titled terrace buildings at 36 Perry Street, amounting to total land of 4,477sqm.
There is also an approved DA to build 11 additional motel suites on the north-west edge of the site, providing substantial future development potential.
An off-market EOI campaign found buyer in a syndicate led by experienced hoteliers, Mudgee local Steve Harding and business partner Scott Still. The group already hold a portfolio of assets, including Oberon’s Royal Hotel.
They are said to be eager to “build upon the outstanding foundation established by the Fitzgerald family”.
Jamie and Gina Fitzgerald have held the property for the past five years, and opted to divest in order to focus on their primary hotel asset, the nearby Woolpack Hotel.
The multi-location transaction is reportedly the largest hotel deal to occur in Mudgee, which is demonstrative of the venue’s performance and underlying property value.
It follows significant sales in the region, such as the Post Office Hotel, in 2022, and Ned Kelly divesting Gulgong’s Centennial Hotel in 2023.
“The valuable underlying real assets, coupled with excellent profitability, drew substantial interest from local and metropolitan investors alike,” reports JLL Hotels’ Greg Jeloudev, who managed the campaign with colleague Edward Browne.
“The sale of the Paragon Hotel demonstrates the continued prioritisation for regional assets with a diversified trade mix.”
