The freehold of Paddington’s iconic Grand National Hotel has sold, as investor appetites broaden.
Tenanted by Lance Burrowes’ LJB Hotels on a long-term lease, the “Nash” Hotel is in fact one of the largest single land holdings in the highly desirable suburb.
Upper Oxford Street has been undergoing something of a transformation from retail strip to hospitality hub, enjoying a predominantly well-to-do demographic and proximity to the CBD but without trading restrictions.
LJB operate the pub, on the ground floor, and sale of the building was strongly based in the potential for the other levels.
The private investor that won yesterday’s auction has effectively shown that the bricks and mortar can be desirable even if the tenant is not a large-scale operator.
“The sale underlines that appetite from private buyers for investment Hotels not only covers blue chip covenants such as ALH and Coles but also extends to smaller well-regarded Hotel operators on assets with good underlying property attributes,” CBRE director Dan Dragicevich told PubTIC.
“We have seen numerous similar results being achieved by our Melbourne office, and following on from last year’s sale of the freehold investment of the Golden Sheaf Hotel in Double Bay it is encouraging that to see a further positive result in the Sydney market.”
CBRE conducted the campaign in conjunction with Colliers International. Colliers’ Miron Solomons said interest in the freshly refurbished asset was diverse, but the untapped potential won out.
“Given the development potential combined with the existing strong business, we received a great deal of interest in this asset from a range of buyers,” said Solomons.
“The buyer was ultimately a private investor looking to unlock the cash flow potential from the top two floors, but we had interest from multiple buyer profiles over the five week campaign.”