Ned Kelly has grown his posse of regional hotels with acquisition of the freehold going concern of the Tattersalls Hotel in Casino.
Local publican Craig Lusby bought the pub in 2011, and after nearly a decade and eyeing retirement he noted the favourable market conditions and listed the business in May.
Kelly & Co Hotels have snapped it up for circa $10 million, in a deal that also included an additional eight gaming entitlements from the nearby Oxford Hotel, owned by the same vendors.
Occupying a 1,944sqm CBD block, amid high levels of pedestrian traffic, the two-storey Tattersalls enjoys a profitable mix of trade, predominantly through gaming and bar sales. It also counts a bistro and commercial kitchen, popular function space, and 20 pub-style accommodation rooms plus over 50 parking spaces.
Established in 1859, it lays claim to being Casino’s oldest existing business, and its heritage elements are the first of a range of plans Kelly has for the pub.
“We’ll concentrate on bringing back those aspects and the natural beauty of the historic hotel, rather than try to create anything shiny and new,” he says.
Expanding on the existing 14 EGMs, the gaming operation will be relocated and built to accommodate both smoking and social distancing. The amalgamation from another pub in town bolsters the business’ longevity, in a Band 3 zone that will inhibit further competition.
Kelly Hotels will be bringing live entertainment back to the Tatts, in the form of low-key outfits to compliment socialising and f&b.
And the menu will be overhauled, ditching the Thai for dishes that play to the role of beef in the town, which celebrates ‘Beef Week’ each year. The outdoor kitchen will feature a weekly ‘beast on the spit’ for locals.
Kelly says it will be a traditional Australian-style steakhouse, without the price tag, that will be a nod to the local industry and community.
While not a major factor in the purchase, the new operators will also be stepping up the game in the currently underutilised upstairs accommodation.
“We’re going to take advantage of a plentiful supply of rooms and beds upstairs that just need to be brought into a standard that’s acceptable for today’s guests, such as business travellers.”
In the year of metro-based publicans looking to the bush for inspiration, the Tattersalls is an example of one that ticks all the boxes in desirable trading characteristics, in a community of 12,000 people and only three pubs.
“This is undoubtedly a significant upside play for Ned, who assessed value in the strong gaming holdings, demographic and macroeconomic drivers – including a favourable pubs per capita ratio in the town,” notes HTL Property’s Blake Edwards, who marketed the property with colleague Xavier Plunkett.
The sale joins a flood of activity in the Northern Rivers region, HTL report to be in excess of $100 million.
The Kelly stable now incorporates seven regional hotels, including at Mudgee, Gulgong, Scone, Old Bar and Weston, and has found a certain first-mover advantage in going regional before the current trend and focus out of Sydney.
Casino is a strategic precinct in the greater area, around 700 kilometres north of Sydney, and 70 kilometres inland of Byron Bay – an area that has been seeing record-breaking pub sales such as the Short-Laundy acquisition of the Lennox Hotel for $40 million.
“When my wife saw there were properties for sale in Byron she asked why don’t we buy there?” says Kelly. “I told her I’ve gotten as close as I can get.”
