Singo’s Australian Pub Fund and Riversdale Group have sold off their last Sydney operation to a band of Balmain brothers, welcoming the Roddys back to prime Peninsula hospitality.
Formed in 2010 by business identities John Singleton, Mark Carnegie and Geoff Dixon, in early 2012 APF purchased the $10 million Unity Hall in Balmain – the birthplace of the Australian Labor Party in 1891.
Following extensive renovation, in September it was re-launched with commensurate pomp and ceremony, including an official opening by former Prime Minister and Labor legend, Bob Hawke.
The landmark corner pub on Balmain main drag Darling Street offers a popular public bar, the upstairs nod to its ALP roots known as the Workers Bar, and gaming operation with 22 machines, producing total reported weekly revenue around $150k.
Back in 1991 local brothers Geoff and Brian Roddy bought Balmain local Dick’s Hotel, which they diligently operated for more than a decade before selling in late 2002.
Dick’s was an institution on the Balmain peninsula, backing its own A-grade cricket team and a number of other sponsorships.
Geoff Roddy is now back in the game with younger brother James, and James’ partner in several regional hotels and a Newcastle brewery, John McRedmond.
Geoff will be personally back at the helm as licensee, and due to take the keys late January plans to meet the needs of his fellow Balmainians, particularly today’s absent younger patrons.
“We’ll make sure that we look after our customers that we’ve got, and give them good service, but we will have plans,” he suggests. “We’ll continue the music that’s there and try to look after the kids – they’re all going elsewhere now.”
Reg and Sue Byrne, parents to Mayor Darcy Byrne, were patrons of Dick’s in the 90s, and the Mayor called today to congratulate him. Geoff says it’s a big deal for them all.
“We’re quite excited at the moment. Very happy to be there.”
The on-market campaign launched last month through HTL Property yielded a record price for the precinct of around $20 million, backing up the record Newcastle sale last week of the Kent Hotel to Stephen Hunt’s pub vehicle.
Having now divested all its Sydney assets and listed the Elephant in Brisbane, Riversdale director Matthew Beach suggests the cycle is beginning again for investors.
“We remain committed to the sector, having acquired the Lambton Park Hotel last year, and we are actively looking to buy pubs for our second fund. In the meantime, we are seeking to add additional pubs to those that we currently manage on behalf of external investors to Riversdale.“
In a record-breaking year of major transactions, the home-grown syndicate winning bidding on Unity Hall is likely a good result for the evolving precinct, which has seen its pub population thinned in recent years.
“The market interest in the Unity Hall Hotel was commensurate with the quality of the offering, and the eventual buyers – with decades of local knowledge to draw upon – are well placed to take stewardship of the much-loved community watering hole,” offers HTL director Dan Dragicevich, who marketed the asset for APF with colleague Andrew Jolliffe.
