Renowned inner west watering hole the Oxford Tavern of Petersham is being sold as a blank canvas through receivers and managers.
The landmark pub is set on an expansive 734sqm corner at the intersection of New Canterbury and Crystal Roads, boasting one of the largest trading footprints in the area.
For more than a decade it has been operated as one of Sydney’s late-night dive bar icons, capitalising on its 3am liquor licence.
Jaime Wirth’s trendy Drink & Dine group took on operations at the Oxford in 2012. In 2016 the group’s venues were acquired by Australian Venue Co, then known as Dixon Hospitality, which subsequently on-sold the leasehold in 2019 to the Thorpe brothers, later becoming Odd Culture Group.
In 2023 Odd Culture was in the throes of moving into Melbourne and opted to not renew the lease at The Oxford when it expired in March of that year.
Beyond being an opportunity for another f&b-focused local, and the site’s underlying land and building value, there is compelling mixed-use redevelopment potential (STCA).
Recent updates to the NSW planning framework have ushered in the Transport Oriented Development (TOD) provisions, which apply to sites within 400 metres of train stations or shopping centres.
The Oxford site is already eligible for a development of up to six storeys, but under the TOD guidelines it may be allowed up to 24 metres, or eight storeys, subject to a detailed planning and design submission. This is evidenced in comparable developments nearby.
It is close to Petersham train station and also benefits from its proximity to Deicorp’s recently completed ‘ultramodern’ mixed-use precinct The Siding, comprising a total of 357 apartments.
Shuttered for the past three years, it is now under the control of Cameron Gray and Adam Shepard of HM Advisory. They have engaged HTL Property agents Sam Handy and Blake Edwards to present it to market through an Expression of Interest campaign closing Thursday, 23 July, with guidance of $6 million.
It marks the latest in a string of recent sales in inner-city Sydney, seeing a new partnership pick up Ray Reilly’s nearby White Cockatoo in Petersham, Redcape buy both the Frisco Hotel in Woolloomooloo and Arthouse Hotel on Pitt St, and the Empire of Annandale returning to market.
Handy says the vendors had been receiving unsolicited approaches from developers attracted to the TOD potential and they anticipate interest from property developers and investors as well as hoteliers.
“The price guide we’re offering represents underlying land and building value alone, and there is subsequently no goodwill value being apportioned into pricing,” added Edwards.
