Eden’s picture-postcard Hotel Australasia is for sale through receivers, offering a destination in a tourist town, as its troubled owners relinquish the fight.
Built 1904, the striking heritage-listed Hotel is found in the idyllic precinct of Eden, on the NSW south coast, strategically located between Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra, holding 38 metres of frontage on a 2,886sqm lot.
After serving for more than a century, the big pub closed and was shuttered around 2012. A few years later the faded community eyesore was bought by Bega Valley Shire Council, which sold it again in 2020 to Karneil – an entity owned by south coast builder Neil Rankin and a partner.
Rankin painstakingly restored the building’s original Federation façade, before selling the property and opportunity in 2022 for $1.65 million to Core Asset Development – later known as Virtical – led by Mark Toma and John Palasty, and their new entity Eden Australasia P/L.
Soon after settlement the company launched a civil case against Karneil, alleging breach of contract by not completing agreed works and seeking around $178K plus costs.
The company reportedly spent around another $3.5 million on a stunning sympathetic renovation, expanding trading spaces and introducing elements such as a new distillery, producing vodka and gin, and activating the accommodation.
Despite the dispute, Hotel Australasia began trading again in December (2022), after more than a decade in the dark.
The case against Karneil dragged on, finally appearing before the District Court in August, where the defendant produced photographic evidence supporting that works were done as specified. The judge declared the burden of proof to be on the plaintiff, and that Eden Australasia had failed to meet this benchmark. The claim was dismissed.
This month voluntary administrators Peter Krejci and Andrew Cummins of BRI Ferrier took control of the boutique hotel, which comprises two bars and restaurants, and a large outdoor beer garden. A reception greets guests to the eight well-appointed rooms, equipped with ensuite bathrooms, which enjoy “strong occupancy”. A Council Car Park at the rear augments customer parking.
Being proximate to the Port of Eden, patronage is aided by visitations by approximately 40 cruise ships each year, and average weekly revenues – independently assessed over a six-week period since BRI Ferrier’s appointment and said to reflect a “heavily scaled-back” food offering – are reported at around $30K, across departments.
There is said to be scope for a new operator to enhance the outdoor area with an all-weather shade structure and to bring online the onsite craft brewery/distillery, if not extend the licensed trading to make greater use of surplus land (STCA).
A sale campaign is being managed by HTL Property’s Sam Handy, Blake Edwards and Ben Kennedy, who feel the operation would be well suited to a food & beverage-focused hotelier, restaurateur, or brewer.
The freehold going concern of Hotel Australasia is being sold via Expressions of Interest, closing Thursday, 5 December.
