The Pendle Inn was one of Sydney's longest-owned hotels, with the sale representing the first time it had changed hands since it was built in the 1950s.
It sits on a 7,564 sqm site opposite the Pendle Hill Train Station, 30 kilometres west of the Sydney CBD.
Hotel facilities include public bar, bistro, gaming room with 30 gaming machine entitlements, a large drive-through bottle shop, outdoor terraces and accommodation.
JLL Hotels selling agents Ben McDonald and John Musca sold the property off-market.
“It is particularly fulfilling when you can drive great results for respected and long-time industry stakeholders and in doing so, present such a wonderful opportunity for the incoming hotelier”, McDonald said.
Meanwhile, hotelier Glenn Piper has acquired Newcastle’s multi-level Merewether Beach Hotel, which sits on a 1,850 sqm corner site a stone’s throw away from the shoreline and boasting panoramic views of the ocean.
Piper has partnered with a small syndicate of investors, many of whom are locals, on the purchase.
“Merewether Beach Hotel is a truly magnificent property, with one of the best pub views in the country. It has been part of the community since the 1880s, so I feel humbled and excited by this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to take it on,” Piper said.
Piper recently transformed the Harbord Hotel in Freshwater.
“Both pubs share a wonderful affinity with the surf - the salty sea air is part of their DNA. That’s exactly what we wanted to capture at Harbord and certainly what we’ll celebrate at Merewether,” Piper said.
Piper has also recently taken on the leasehold of Q Station, which sits on 30 hectares on the headland on Sydney’s northern beaches.
He will take “considerable time understanding the history of the area and consulting with key land, heritage and Indigenous stakeholders before making any changes to its operations”.
Last month former Sydney Lord Mayor Nelson Meers AO paid an Australia record figure of nearly $160M for the Crossroads Hotel in Sydney’s south west, smashing the previous record of $104 million paid in late 2019 for Byron Bay’s Beach Hotel by MA Financial (then Moelis Australia) to John “Strop” Cornell.
An estimated $2 billion in pub sales were recorded in 2021, while specialist agency HTL expects the carried momentum will see up to $1 billion worth of sales concluded in the June quarter alone.
Recent sales have also seen Pub Invest complete its portfolio selldown, netting a total of $126.5M after divesting the North Nowra Tavern and the Crown Hotel in Surry Hills.
The run has also delivered a record regional transaction with Harvest Hotels picking up Wagga Wagga’s Victoria Hotel for $29M.
