Old East Village pub gets new owner on Sydney’s insular peninsula
Capital Gain
Balmain favourite, the East Village pub, will get a facelift after the hotel was taken over by local restaurateur Matt Turner.
The vendor of 82 Darling Street was ex-Macquarie bank partner John White. He acquired the pub’s keys in 2017 from another local Balmain hotelier Tim Condon.
No price for the deal was disclosed but nearby the Town Hall pub sold in July for $9.5 million after receivers appointed to oversee Jon Adgemis’s embattled Public Hospitality group put it on the market.
The East Village sale was a leasehold and the business generated annual revenues of more than $2.6 million.
Turner is well-known in the district having previously owned and operated the popular Rosebud Restaurant in Rozelle. He intends to give the East Village Hotel a more “compelling and contemporary food and beverage offering,” which he hopes will resonate with the “younger Balmain demographic”.
Giving old Balmain pubs a facelift is a popular pastime. Justin Hemmes rolled out his Totti’s concept in the Three Weeds Hotel in Rozelle, while ex-Felix chef Ben Sitton successfully reinvigorated the Dry Dock Hotel.
Rumours are swirling that the new owners of the Town Hall Hotel have secured a high-profile Melbourne chef to resurrect and reposition the dormant business.
HTL Property’s Andrew Jolliffe said Balmain has come a long way since its origin in 1800 when it formed part of a 550 acre government grant to namesake, William Balmain. Jolliffe, Sam Handy and Blake Edwards advised on the East Village sale.
Pubs are still in demand with investors. Just last week, Momento Hospitality sold the large format Silverwater hotel for $75 million to the Marlow Hotel Group in one of the biggest pub transactions of the year.
HTL’s Daniel Dragicevich and Andrew Jolliffe, and JLL’s Ben McDonald and John Musca handled that sale.
Transport focus
Realterm, an independent global investment manager focused on the transportation industry, has expanded its Sydney portfolio with the purchase of two major industrial assets in Revesby and Ingleburn.
The acquisitions add $89 million to its Australian portfolio with the assets going to Realterm’s second Australian fund, which it launched in May this year.
These acquisitions increase Realterm’s Sydney portfolio to five assets. Realterm currently manages a $US12 billion ($18.3 billion) global property portfolio on behalf of its partners.
The firm’s Australian operations are being led by Charlotte Brabant, who once worked at Blackstone-owned 151 Property where she managed real estate investments. Bastian van Halder is the managing director of Asia Pacific.
Realterm entered the Australian market in January last year with the $62 million purchase of 77 Governor Macquarie Drive, Chipping Norton.
In the latest deal, Realterm acquired 5–9 Lancaster Street in Ingleburn, a 23,900 square metre truck terminal with a 10,900 sq m warehouse.
Elijah Shakir of ReVest Property Group advised on the sale.
The group also purchased 2A Mavis Street, Revesby for $50 million. That 27,447 sq m industrial outdoor storage complex is leased to ASX-listed business Acrow who have occupied the site for more than 15 years.
Trent Gallagher and Hamish Miles from Colliers advised on the sale.
Unitas sells
Singaporean-based investor Unitas Premier has sold a strategic purpose-built student accommodation in Sydney’s south-east for $18 million.
A private Asian family office fund snapped up the three-storey complex at 66-68 Barker Street, Kingsford which has 39 self-contained studios, a manager’s residence and 17 basement spaces for cars and motorbikes.
The deal was hatched on a 5.44 per cent net yield and equal to $450,000 per room.
Student accommodation close to the University of New South Wales (UNSW) is in high demand from both local and offshore investors, particularly parties from Vietnam, Singapore and Hong Kong.
The UNSW precinct, home to over 60,000 students from more than 130 countries, remains a key driver of consistent rental growth and investment activity. The sale was led by Colliers’ Harry Bui and Andrew Bui.
City retail
A private Asian family company, Dang and Nguyen Pty Ltd, sold shop 120 at 289–295 Sussex Street for $5.5 million. The corner site at Sussex and Bathurst Streets has a 138 sq m convenience store with three secure car parks.
The purchaser was a high-net-worth offshore investor from Thailand chasing Sydney property on a sharp 4.29 per cent net yield, a rate of $39,855 per sq m on internal strata area.
Colliers’ Harry Bui, Joseph Lin and Hugh Gittoes managed the sale.
Contact carolynannecummins@gmail.com
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