Wallabies pub king Bill Young splashes out on the Gem Hotel
Wallaby-turned-pub-baron Bill Young has splashed out on the Gem Hotel in the NSW Riverina region in what has been billed as the biggest regional hotel deal so far this year.
He paid about $50 million for the Griffith-based property to the former owner, private hotelier Jim Knox.
It is the former Australian rugby union player’s first foray into the regional hotel market, adding to his extensive beef cattle production business and his portfolio of flagship Sydney hotels, which includes the popular Bar Broadway in Chippendale.
Occupying a 2547-square-metre site in the heart of Griffith at 201 Banna Avenue, the Gem Hotel is widely regarded as the town’s most profitable and highest-performing hospitality asset, generating annual revenue of more than $13 million.
It is one of NSW’s top-five regional gaming venues, with 29 poker machines and a 3am trading approval, plus the multi-award-winning Bull & Bell Steakhouse. Aside from the pub area, there are 65 four-star hotel rooms.
The deal comes as the pub sector booms with close to $500 million of sales recorded in the past few months. HTL Property’s Xavier Plunkett and Andrew Jolliffe advised on the Gem sale.
LVMH heads to Chatswood
Sydney’s north shore is gearing up to rival the city for luxury retailers, with the upmarket Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy Group (LVMH) to open a large-scale site with a collection of its brands.
The LVMH maisons, as they are called, will anchor the revamped luxe area of the Chatswood Chase shopping centre owned by the ASX-listed Vicinity Centres, which is undertaking a $200 million-plus redevelopment of the property. Vicinity is also co-owner of the Melbourne-based Chadstone Shopping Centre, which is also a mega site for luxe retailers.
Once completed, Chatswood Chase will house a comprehensive collection of global luxury brands, complemented by a mix of premium Australian and international designer fashion labels, along with a selection of the popular athleisure sector and lifestyle brands.
It comes as LVMH is said to be looking at another site in the city to add to its King and George Street maison.
A weakening in sales for luxury retail brands in the past year has not deterred the opening of top-end stores, with Westfield also expanding its City mall with new luxe retail offerings at its Market and Castlereagh Street store, anchored by a flagship Chanel shop.
Transport NSW offloads
The NSW government’s Transport NSW department is looking to raise some cash from the sale of two sites in North Sydney that it bought in 2017 as part of the Sydney Metro rail project.
At the time, the department splurged about $300 million in North Sydney and Crows Nest on office blocks, shops and apartments. The plan was to demolish the sites for the new metro stations.
It is now selling two excess properties at 194-196a Miller Street. Sitting opposite the new Victoria Cross Metro Station, adjoining Monte Sant’ Angelo Mercy College, the properties comprise 961 sq m of land and 2274 sq m of net lettable area. They’re being offered for sale in one line or individually.
The properties are currently leased to Lendlease until December, roughly in line with the likely opening of the $1.2 billion Victoria Cross tower.
The Colliers team of Tom Appleby, Joseph Lin and Charlie Gilmour are managing the sale.
Rosebery to Rockdale
Demand for industrial property is strong, with investors circling two prominent sites in the tightly held Sydney south.
Fund manager and developer Centennial is testing the market with 74 Mentmore Avenue, Rosebery, being a hybrid commercial asset. No price guide was disclosed.
The four-level, 3207-sq-m boutique building is fully leased to Vocus, an internet traffic provider, and is equipped to meet the growing demand for data centre expansion.
Michael Crombie and Jackson Wray from Colliers are managing the sale on behalf of Centennial.
Another site at 395 West Botany Street, Rockdale, is being offered by a private investor for about $28 million.
Spanning 3816 sq m on a substantial 7206-sq-m site, the property is anchored by a new five-year lease to Repco, and until recently, was also home to Fitness First.
With secure parking for 123 vehicles and flexible internal configurations, the property is suited to a range of uses including recreation, trade retail and logistics.
Collier’s Trent Gallagher and Edward McFarland are advising on the sale.
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