Aussie actress sells Central Coast pub for $22m
Actress Marney McQueen and her husband Frank Arangio have offloaded the Royal Hotel Wyong on the NSW Central Coast for an eye-watering price.
McQueen is best known for her musical production of Priscilla Queen of the Desert and her performances in Hairspray, Pet Killer and the Tony Award-winning Spamalot.
The prominent Central Coast hotel, which also acted as a stage for McQueen’s cabaret shows, changed hands in a $22 million deal.
During the decade they owned it, McQueen and Arangio invested more than $5 million transforming the pub into a family-friendly venue.
They purchased the pub alongside a group of investors for $7 million in 2016, according to the Australian Financial Review.
“We’ve done a huge transformation of the hotel when we first bought it. There were lingerie waitresses in the front bar; sad, lonely old men living upstairs – that’s all completely changed now,” McQueen told the AFR.
The renovations included upgrades to the bar, dining areas, gaming and accommodation, with the pub having 14 guest rooms.
Last year, the couple completed a $2 million Riverdeck development, introducing an all-weather beer garden, new bar and children’s playground.
The hotel occupies a sprawling 3,537-square-metre site beside Wyong train station and generates $7.85 million in revenue annually.
The couple are now packing up for Melbourne to be closer to McQueen’s family.
The pub’s new owners are the Bayfield family, who have an extensive hospitality portfolio.
“Marney and I have thoroughly enjoyed our time in Wyong and are happy that it has been sold to another family-run business in the Bayfields,” Arangio said in a statement.
The sale comes amid a string of pub deals across the Central Coast, with more than $165 million worth of transactions recorded in the region over the past year.
