Adelaide’s elegant Saracens Head Hotel is for sale as a long-term lease or freehold going concern.
Commonly known as ‘Sarries’, the two-storey stone and iron lacework pub was built 1873 on a prominent corner of Carrington Street, amid universities and the legal precinct of Adelaide’s CBD.
It provides bars, a dining room, a large outdoor courtyard, function facilities and 20 gaming machines, with a 3am licence and capacity for 350-pax.
A recent refurb focused on the beer garden, with wood-fired oven, along with the function room, bistro and front bar. Revenue from FY2019 was reported at $50k per week.
For nearly 15 years it has been operated under lease by Bloody Mary Group (BMG). Two years’ ago the tenanted freehold was put to market and sold to the current passive investment owner.
The lease shows remaining options totalling around 37 years.
BMG has engaged CBRE Hotels’ Mat George to market the business opportunity – being joined by the option of the freehold.
The pub is being run under management, offering immediate benefit to an owner-operator, and rent is reportedly just eight per cent of turnover.
The gaming room and operation needs some work and holds the bonus of existing approval for an additional five licences. Revenue contributes just four per cent of turnover. Gaming in Adelaide has the added upcoming benefit of changes to the state’s laws, bringing improvements including note acceptors.
Upstairs from the pub is office space, which is now vacant and suited to be leased out or incorporated into the business.
Sale of the Sarrie lease is expected north of $1.5m, at a time of infrequent opportunities.
“The Saracens Head Hotel is poised to enable Adelaide’s pub resurgence,” suggests George.
“The successful buyer will be able to take advantage of the pub’s excellent location and high-quality fittings, and the potential to expand its current offering to enhance the gaming revenue it generates.”
The leasehold of the Hotel is being sold via Private Treaty, the freehold to be negotiated separately.
