Sydney-based Wallaby turned hotelier Bill Young has signed on for Jim Knox’s landmark Gem Hotel in Griffith, in what is said to be a record regional pub sale.
The Gem is in the heart of the Griffith CBD, believed to be one of the highest-performing and most profitable pubs in regional NSW.
Equipped with a 3am licence and sophisticated interior fit-out designed by Paul Kelly, it includes the multi-award-winning Bull & Bell restaurant, boasting a Hat from the Good Food Guide and recently ranked among the Top 100 steakhouses in the world.
It is also one of the state’s top five regional gaming venues, holding 29 EGMs, and the large 2,547sqm site incorporates 65 four-star hotel rooms, finding high occupancy in the thriving Riverina locale.
Griffith is considered an economic powerhouse, with industry spanning viticulture, agriculture, food processing and manufacturing, full employment amongst the population of just over 20K, and gross regional product of $2.7 billion.
The city has only a few pubs, and the Gem reports annual revenue of more than $13 million.
Private hotelier Jim Knox started his journey in pubs around a decade ago with purchase of both the Gem and Griffith hotels, out of receivership. Since then he has grown the portfolio and has come to focus on the New England region, where he now lives.
“The Gem has been an extraordinary part of our business journey,” he says.
“We are proud of the scale and reputation the hotel has achieved, and I’m confident it is in excellent hands with Bill Young and his team.”
The Gem marks a debut into the regional market for Young – a former Australian rugby international who has amassed an impressive collection of Sydney hotels. It will complement his extensive beef cattle production business.
“We’re delighted with the acquisition of The Gem, and look forward to further enhancing the already outstanding reputation the hotel and the proud Riverina district is known for,” he offers.
The former footballer is understood to have paid around $50 million for the new asset, which is in line with market guidance but also claims a new high water mark for regional pub sales.
It presented to market in June, said to be outperforming comparable non-metro assets such as the Robin Hood in Orange, sold by Jason Marlow in 2023 for $47 million.
Looking to focus on properties closer to home, Knox engaged HTL Property’s Xavier Plunkett and Andrew Jolliffe on The Gem, which was billed as a highly-anticipated “trophy-grade” asset.
Jolliffe says the current strength of hotel real estate is “never more evident” than in a high-profile Sydney operator acquiring such a prominent regional pub.
“The landmark sale of the Gem Hotel sets a new benchmark not just in Griffith or the Riverina, but across the entire regional hospitality landscape.”
