The former headlining Riversdale group is bowing out of pubs, with stakeholders opting to sell the prominent Lambton Park Hotel, in suburban Newcastle.
The pub group representing high-flyers John Singleton, Mark Carnegie and Geoff Dixon bought the LPH mid-2018 for around $6 million, after selling down its Sydney portfolio.
Interests in the asset have moved on, and it is now an entity of MH Carnegie offering the 1,038sqm site on Lambton’s Morehead Street.
Built 1881 as the Eli Chadwick Hotel, it was purchased by Tooth & Co, which constructed the current two-storey brick structure in 1929, on a corner that is now adjacent to the Lambton Park sports and recreation area.
The LPH consists of a ground floor bar, bistro, gaming room with 12 Band 2 machines in smoking solution, spacious undercover patio, and 10 onsite parking spaces.
Since purchasing it, management has secured approval for a DA expected to cost $2 million, detailing a ground floor renovation and first floor activation aiming to take advantage of the venue’s elevated vista across Lambton Park.
Approval for footway dining for 36 patrons has also been secured.
Lambton catchment is just over 5,000 residents and part of the wider City of Newcastle, with around 161,000 residents. It has been a region actively sought by growing Sydney operators, attracted by more approachable prices for assets often enjoying similar economic and demographic metrics to Sydney.
After building a solid collection of burgeoning pubs around Sydney, in late 2016 Riversdale Group – the management for Singleton, Carnegie and Dixon’s Australian Pub Fund – began divesting its pubs, starting with the Peakhurst Inn, Bristol Arms, and Como Hotels, then the Toxteth in February 2017, the Marlborough in April, and Kinsellas in May.
The subsequent purchase of the LPH in 2018 was potentially the start of a new build, but facing strong competition for undercooked assets in need of capex, followed by two years of pandemic disruption, the remaining MH Carnegie entity has opted to end the chase.
Sale of the pub cites average weekly revenue over the past two months of circa $50k, and market guidance on the sale price is thought to be around $9 million.
“Buyers considering this asset will be drawn to the historically strong and diversified revenue inputs, as well as the intrinsic value of the land, building and gaming entitlements and the potential upside through the activation of the various DAs,” suggested HTL Property’s Dan Dragicevich, managing the campaign with colleague Blake Edwards.
The agency reports four sales in Newcastle this year, totalling in excess of $60 million.
The freehold going concern of the Lambton Park Hotel is being sold via Expressions of Interest, closing Wednesday, 7 December.
