Normanby Hotel in Brisbane on the market for the first time in 15 years

Now the iconic Brisbane pub is on the market for the first time in 15 years along with the opportunity to breathe life back into the well-known watering hole.

Co-owned by Michael Dempsey and Otto Wilhelm since 1999, the Red Hill hotel includes an enormous 3683-square-metre site and incorporates the multi-level heritage listed pub and a huge car park.

The Normanby Hotel is being sold by CBRE Hotels’ Queensland director Paul Fraser and national director Daniel Dragicevich.

“There is an old adage that if a pub has been good before it can be good again and this one has obviously been an incredibly high performing pub in the past,” Mr Fraser said.

The Normanby Hotel, in Red Hill, Brisbane, is on almost 4000 square metres of land. Photo: Queensland Heritage Register

“It hasn’t changed since its massive renovation in 2002 or 2003 and the market has moved since then, but what that does mean is it gives a huge opportunity to a good operator coming in.”

Mr Fraser said the site had significant medium- to long-term development potential, the ability to upgrade its function spaces as well as reposition and modernise its gaming room.

Even though the listing had yet to officially hit the market, interest from would-be buyers had already been strong, he said.

“I actually think there are a lot of buyer pools that would be interested in this so it could be a high-net worth that does a JV [joint venture] with an operator. It could just be an operator. It could be a national player, a high profile publican, or it could be a developer doing a JV,” he said.

The pub was last renovated in 2003. Photo: Supplied

“Because of the scope, because of the land mass, because of its under-performance, because of myriad of different things I think it falls into a large category of different buyer pools.

“Someone coming in is obviously going to get the opportunity to put their own stamp on it.”

CBRE research manager Ben Martin-Henry said in the CBRE Australia Pub Trends (H2 2017) Report –  released next week – that a significant weight of capital was moving from New South Wales to Queensland as investors looking to increase their holdings sought more favourable yields.

“Investors priced out of the NSW market are increasingly turning their attention to south east Queensland, however, it remains a struggle to find owners willing to part with prized assets,” he said.

Recent transactions include the Queens Arms Hotel, sold for $21 million, and Friday’s Riverside Bar which quietly sold at the start of 2018 to Australian Venue Co.