Landmark Annandale hotel with multi-layered income potential turns heads
The Empire Hotel in Annandale has hit the market, offering 21 boutique rooms, dual restaurants, late-night trading approval and gaming entitlements, generating annual revenues of approximately $3.7 million.
The heritage building, spanning 800 square metres, is situated in a prime position at 103 Parramatta Road, occupying a prominent corner site along one of the Inner West’s busiest corridors, which guarantees high exposure.
HTL Property’s Andrew Jolliffe says the listing opens a rare window for investors to secure a substantial, multifaceted pub asset in an increasingly tightly held market.
“The opportunity is to acquire a stately, multi-level full-service hotel on a prime corner position, and with considerable passing trade and latent revenue levers available to the successful purchaser,” Jolliffe says.
The 21 recently completed hotel rooms provide a boutique stay option in a suburb where quality short-stay options remain limited. At the same time, the venue’s 19 gaming machines are a valuable operational asset within Sydney’s competitive gaming landscape. Two existing restaurant spaces and the highly coveted 3am liquor licence add further weight to the property’s diversified income profile.
“With the current 3am liquor licence, two restaurants and 21 upmarket accommodation rooms in its arsenal, the business is of a nature and complexity that reflects its own hospitality precinct. The interest in the first week of the public campaign has been unsurprisingly strong,” Jolliffe notes.
The asset also includes an adjoining commercial tenancy – formerly a yoga studio – which adds to the hotel’s ability to benefit from multiple revenue streams or gives the new owner the ability to expand the building’s footprint.
The incoming wave of residential development along the Parramatta Road corridor enhances its strategic appeal. More than 8000 new residents are expected to move into the area following a recent planning agreement, creating a future customer base for both accommodation and hospitality offerings.
Jolliffe says the buyer pool is expected to range from experienced pub operators to long-term commercial investors.
“We can see a range of buyer participants including owner-operators seeking a foothold in the highly lucrative Sydney pub industry, as well as astute property investors who recognise the property’s patent scale and proximity to the 8000 new residents envisaged.”
And opportunities of this magnitude, he adds, are scarce.
“Any significantly positioned, multilevel hospitality asset in the Sydney metro area is rare, and particularly tightly held. Opportunities to purchase multifaceted pub assets of this level of animation are often generational at best.”
Expressions of interest close at 4pm (AEDT) on 8 December 2025. HTL Property is selling the property on behalf of Jonathan Henry, Kathy Sozou and Damien Pasfield of McGrathNicol in their capacity as joint and several receivers and managers.
