Winding up a royal career, David and Paula Attwood have put their long-held Brady’s Railway Hotel Albury to market, being the second-last after four decades owning a dozen pubs – with only nine monikers.
Growing up in the area, David Attwood began his career as a livestock buyer for Playfair Meats, before securing his first pub, the Clubhouse, in Wellington, between Orange and Dubbo.
Over time he came to own and either operate or lease out Dubbo’s Railway Hotel, Amaroo Hotel, Coopers Tavern and Commercial Hotel, as well as the Commercial Hotel in Bathurst, Ophir Hotel in Orange, Crossroads Hotel at Tomingly, Grand Hotel at Cobar, and Royal Hotels at both Narromine and Brewarrina.
These days he and wife Paula are owner-operators at Albury’s Railway, onsite seven days a week, with business partner Brendon Cooper, who operates their nearby Albion Hotel.
Heading toward 65, Attwood says he was recently spoiled by some uncharacteristic time off.
“I went away on holidays recently, had about three weeks off and said to my wife how much I enjoyed it,” he recalls.
“That’s when I finally made up my mind to put it on the market. I probably shouldn’t have gone on holidays, I got too used to it.”
Now looking to enjoy more time with grandkids, Attwood has listed the Railway with Ray White Hotel’s Blake Edwards and CBRE Hotel’s Ben McDonald.
“I’m too old and tired and cranky,” he says. “We’ve been in the business nearly 40 years and I think it’s time. The hotel would benefit from a younger person’s outlook.”
The big Railway occupies a generous 2,875sqm block and has recently seen a renovation of the upstairs space, introducing a big function room yet to reach its potential.
It also incorporates a central bar, bistro, recently upgraded beer garden, drive-through bottleshop, and gaming room with 30 EGMs, 20 of which are in a smoking solution, and current ranking of #491.
The second-half of 2017 saw the pub average $118k per week in revenue.
Significantly, in a growing town of more than 100,000, the large lot is only blocks from Albury train station and holds significant development potential, zoned B4 Mixed Use, with 3:1 FSR and a 35-metre height limit.
“This is a great opportunity to secure a large-format hotel in such a highly regarded regional centre like Albury,” offers McDonald.
Albury is the northern half of the Albury-Wodonga border community straddling NSW and Victoria, just four hours north of Melbourne and central to route M31 to Sydney.
“In the last 12 months we have seen a number of large regional hotels transact with larger Sydney groups, seeking out comparatively well-priced assets compared to metropolitan hotels,” notes Edwards.
The Railway Hotel is being sold via on-market Expressions of Interest campaign, closing Thursday 26 April.
