After more than half a century at the helm, the veteran Ramia family is looking to leave its prized, landmark Sphinx Hotel in Geelong.
Owner George Ramia started working at the venue on Thompson Rd when he was just 14 years old, doing the beer lines as he wasn’t allowed in the bar.
Over the decades the venue has changed significantly, from a place famous for live music, to a disco, to an iconic entertainment complex.
Back in its day the Hotel, then known as the Golf View, hosted renowned acts such as Johnny O’Keeffe, Cold Chisel and the Angels, and saw the transition of the former Mississippi, playing their last gig on a Saturday night, into Little River Band, performing their first gig the following Tuesday.
The pub is on a 1.5-Ha lot and has licence capacity for 1,010 patrons. It continues to host live bands and events, including the Geelong Elvis Festival, each November.
It provides patrons a recently renovated sports bar with TAB, bistro, gaming room with 67 EGMs, function rooms, and a beer garden. There are 16 well-appointed accommodation rooms in assorted configurations, plus the family has secured approval to build a further 24 rooms on the site.
There is also a dual-lane Thirsty Camel drive-through bottleshop.
But today the hotel is best known for its 14-metre high model of the famous Sphinx, straddling the structure and flanked by Egyptian motifs including statues, hieroglyphics and a gold pharaoh’s tomb.
The reconstruction was the result of a survey the family did on Geelong finding each year five million people drove through the town without stopping. Hoping to tap into this opportunity they decided to build a landmark feature and opted for the Sphinx, which has become “quite an attraction”.
On offer is a new long-term 20-year lease, with two 20-year options and rent set to market rates, or a freehold going concern, likely to fetch in the region of $35-40 million.
The Ramias also hold the National Hotel in Geelong, but the large family is increasingly finding separate paths into new opportunities and opted to put up the Sphinx.
“We’re up to nearly 53 years here and I think we’re getting a bit tired,” explains George.
CBRE Hotels’ Scott Callow has been engaged on an Expressions of Interest campaign, closing Thursday, 11 April.
“We anticipate strong interest from a range of investment segments seeking to gain a significant foothold in Victoria’s tightly held gaming market,” says Callow.
