After a couple of crazy years and several more acquisitions, Ned Kelly and gang are getting out of their Criterion Hotel in the lower Hunter Valley prairie of Weston.
Sitting tall on a 910sqm block, the pub operates under a 3am liquor licence, providing public bar, bistro, gaming room with 15 machines, and 10 accommodation rooms plus a manager’s unit.
Kelly bought the re-stapled Hotel with first-timer partner Corey Dunn in late 2020, in the teeth of COVID, from freeholder Peter Calligeros, keeper of Sydney icons such as the Rag & Famish Hotel, and operator, Newcastle-based John Campbell.
Kelly and Co considered pubs in the Cessnock/Maitland area with gaming, and found almost all stripped of machines and finding limited ongoing success. He tipped the Cri as the “gold medal-winning Steve Bradbury” of the region’s pubs.
The gaming operation has proven very successful, generating more than half of the pub’s $65k average weekly revenue to date in FY23.
Since picking up the Criterion, Kelly has continued to find acquisitions, purchasing the Belmore in Scone, the Tattersalls in Casino, and the Amble Inn in Corindi Beach – also in partnership with Dunn.
He speaks of the activity in the Weston region, notably the $600 million power plant project, and residential development to meet demand by people coming from Maitland and Newcastle.
Weston is within the greater Newcastle area, around 10 minutes from Cessnock, and 20 minutes from both Maitland and the outer suburbs of Steel City.
But looking to expand on the opportunity at the Kelly-Dunn venture at Corindi Beach, capital needed to be cashed in elsewhere.
“We’ve got huge plans there. I’m really excited about that project,” says Kelly.
“Corey and I are 50 per cent each, so it made sense to crystalise at Weston to pay for the work.”
Since taking on the Criterion, Kelly and Co have grown its revenue, and the Band 3 SA2 hints at further opportunity in consolidation across the LGA area, given the high barriers to entry, and expectation is for sale price around $12 million.
“Due to the large population catchment and relatively low competition from other pubs, the Criterion has always enjoyed very pleasing revenue capture,” offers HTL Property’s Blake Edwards, marketing the property.
“There’s a firm likelihood the Kurri Kurri-Abermain catchment becomes a ‘two pub town’ down the track.”
Kelly says the sale is not without regret, in light of the potential he still sees.
“If I had deeper pockets we’d like to stay.
“It’s a fantastic pub. Blake will sell this joint!”
The freehold going concern of the Criterion Hotel Weston is available via an on-market Expressions of Interest campaign, closing Wednesday, 2 November.
