Long-time hotelier Tom Mooney is the latest to benefit from the appetite for Byron Bay, selling the Great Northern Hotel, which the family have owned and operated for nearly three decades.
The commanding Great Northern stands on a 2000sqm corner site on main drag Jonson Street, just two blocks south of the famous Beach Hotel, which funds manager Moelis Australia bought early last year for a record price of around $103 million.
The two-storey Great Northern features public bars, a large band room, a restaurant, drive-through bottleshop and 20 accommodation rooms upstairs.
It has been reported sold for around $30 million to Scott Didier – founder of ASX-listed building company Johns Lyng Group (ASX:JLG) – and Scott Emery, founder of ASX-listed online lender MoneyMe (ASX:MME).
The pair already have a long association with the precinct, having run Beach Suites Byron Bay and other commercial investments over the past 30 years.
“Scott and I are just so delighted to be the new custodians of the Northern and to have the privileged opportunity to engage with the local community in the next incarnation of this very special pub,” said Didier.
The Didier family also solely acquired the 51-room Lateen Lane Hotel, built by Mooney in 2009, for more than $40 million. It’s said this will be operated by his daughter Casey and her family, who live in town.
The sale campaign for the pub was by invitation only, and generated a reported 12 bids to purchase.
It continues the well-publicised interest in the area, and comes just weeks after Justin Hemmes’ Merivale acquired the vacant Cheeky Monkey site nearby.
Didier and Emery have not specified any further plans for acquisitions, but stand well positioned to join the procession of smart investment capital entering the pub sector.
