The Grand Hotel, Cairns.
NEWS
PELATHON MANAGEMENT PAYS $8.5M FOR GRAND HOTEL IN CAIRNS Pelathon Management has paid $8.5 million to acquire the Grand Hotel in Cairns along with two adjoining sites. Pelathon had managed the hotel for 18 months under a lease agreement prior to exercising its option to buy the property outright. Pelathon’s Managing Director Jaz Mooney said; “This is another prime example of an acquisition in a market where we believe there is a strong short, medium and long-term growth potential driven by a robust economy and a proactive local council.” Established in 1926, the Grand Hotel is on a 4,060sqm site opposite the Cairns Central shopping centre and features 35 gaming machines. The site also includes 176 metres of frontage to three streets, a drivethrough bottle shop, six adjoining retail shops and a former service station now being used as a hire depot.
LORD GLADSTONE SOLD: BUYER AND PRICE REVEALED The Lord Gladstone Hotel in Chippendale has sold after a rapid fourweek campaign. The freehold hotel asset is located in a Sydney Inner West growth spot, adjacent to Frasers Property Australia’s $2 billion Central Park urban development project, which occupies six hectares on the former Carlton & United brewery site at Broadway. The asset was sold by owner Paddy Coughlan, who previously advised the market he was divesting the hotel to free up capital to invest into growing his hard lemonade business, Frank Strong’s. Purchased for a reported $5.5m, the successful buyer is existing pub owner George Kazzi; who also owns the Forresters Hotel in Surry Hills. The venue, located near the Spice Alley precinct, is likely to benefit from increasing residential and hospitality development nearby. The hotel came with six gaming machine entitlements and a 3am licence. Blake Edwards and Dan Dragicevich of HTL Property, exclusive agents for the hotel sale, say there’s a deep level of interest and activity in CBD fringe hospitality properties. “We enjoyed a favourable campaign in terms of enquiries, with multiple parties submitting EOIs,” says HTL Property Director Blake Edwards. “With several strong offers received, the substantial interest level resulted in a quick turnaround between the marketing campaign and the effective sale,” says Edwards.
4 | MAY 2019 AUSTRALIAN HOTELIER
CBRE Hotels Director Paul Fraser and CBRE Cairns Managing Director Danny Betros negotiated the sale of the landmark Cairns pub on behalf of private owners Runnico Pty Ltd. “The hotel has undergone a significant renovation, including the main bar, alfresco dining areas and an upgrade of the gaming room to accommodate increased machine numbers,” Mr Fraser said, noting that this had completed Stage 1 of Pelathon’s plans for the property. Mr Betros noted that Stage 2 was now well underway, including a redevelopment of the adjoining sites. “This will maximise the highest and best use of the total site, with plans currently underway for an exciting multi-use development in the near future,” Mr Betros said. It is believed these plans include high-rise development.
Coughlan’s Lord Gladstone sold for reported $5.5m. Image © Google 2019.
HTL Property have also been involved with the recent sale of several other Inner West pubs, including the Coopers Hotel in Newtown and Salisbury Hotel in Stanmore. Meanwhile all eyes continue to monitor developments at the Hotel Steyne in Manly, which HTL property is handling, for which expressions of interest closed in March. The vendors' price expectations are of around $70m but sources suggest that level is unlikely to be achieved. Justin Hemmes has reportedly viewed the property but when HTL Property were approached for comment on that sale, no additional details were confirmed. It’s reported several buyers are involved in negotiations. to secure the property.