The curious Terminus Hotel of Pyrmont has been put to market, a lucky seven years and major makeover after it was exhumed from 30 years of ivy and stagnation.
Built in the early 1900s, originally named The Cooper’s Arms Inn, the heritage-listed Federation style building occupies a corner of Harris Street. In 1911 it was rebranded in honour of its disposition with the end of the tram line, becoming the Terminus Hotel.
In 1984 it was purchased as a going concern by the enigmatic Isaac and Susan Wakil, who closed it and left it to the ravages of time for three decades, before finally selling to developers Auswin TWT, which had plans to develop the pub’s large carpark into luxury terraces.
The pub itself was superfluous to the company’s needs, and early 2016 one of the most intriguing hotel sales presented to the market as they listed the dormant venue.
It was swiftly snapped up for around $5 million by local doyens David Mathlin and Binu Katari, who hold a long history in Pyrmont and were eager to see the old girl back on her feet.
Battling complex heritage issues, the new owners secured a DA pursuing preservation with modernisation, investing a further $5 million to meticulously renovate the tired structure. The Terminus proudly threw open the doors again in early 2018.
The two-level hotel incorporates a state-of-the-art food and beverage operation, a popular, greenery-covered beer garden, and a number of accommodation rooms upstairs, reporting total weekly revenue of around $80k.
The level of footfall in the area will continue to bolster revenue, with regular ferry services in operation, the close-by Star Casino and Harbourside precincts and new nearby soon-to-be-completed Metro station, all servicing tourists, 20k local residents and droves of white-collar workers.
“Unique to this hotel is the fact that is it literally surrounded by a huge 40k strong workforce, led by geographically proximate firms such as Network Ten, Nova Radio, Google and AMEX,” notes HTL Property’s Sam Handy, marketing the pub with colleague Andrew Jolliffe, who orchestrated the sale in 2016.
The vendors retain a personal place for Pyrmont, and are selling to make way for the historic watering hole’s next generation. Sources suggest it will fetch a price of around $15 million.
The sale of the freehold going concern of the Terminus Hotel is via Expressions of Interest, concluding 10 May.
