Jason Marlow’s group has on-sold the very large-format Robin Hood Hotel of Orange, for a new record country regional price for a New South Wales pub.
Marlow Hotel Group (MHG) is entering a third generation of family operators, holding an impressive portfolio of eight family-friendly venues. MHG managed the enormous Crossroads Hotel until its sale last year for an all-time record price for a pub in Australia.
Jason Marlow and his wife Peta purchased Orange’s popular Robin Hood Hotel in 2020 from Warwick Marshall and family, who had owned it since 1999.
The sale figure of around $19 million was itself thought to be a record price for a regional pub, at the time. Marlow spoke of having assessed plenty of regional centre opportunities and identified Orange as having multiple revenue inputs and an underlying economic base he felt would “sustain high quality offerings such as the Robin Hood well into the future”.
MHG went about substantially repositioning the already well-patronised operation to cater for increased demand, incorporating a brand-new bistro and indoor kids’ playground, new beer gardens and additional parking.
The Hotel is on an expansive 32,700sqm suburban property, considered ripe for future subdivision and/or mixed-use redevelopment.
Having purchased through HTL Property, MHG relisted it through the agency, finding a syndicate of buyers fronted by local hoteliers for a price approaching $50 million – setting a new regional record with the pub.
The new owners already hold pubs in and around Orange, such as the Ophir Tavern and Railway Hotel in Millthorpe, and have remained tight-lipped on their plans for the Hood.
“Regional centres such as Orange benefited greatly through the pandemic years, and continue to draw the attention of astute capital investors, with the successful buyers being a syndicate of local operators and investors led by Tim Ireson and Ben Cochrane,” explains HTL Property’s Blake Edwards, who marketed the asset with colleagues Dan Dragicevich and Andrew Jolliffe.
