A-list Sydney pub The Clovelly Hotel changes hands for $34m
Sydney’s much-loved eastern suburbs watering hole The Clovelly Hotel has sold for a hefty $34 million, in the lead-up to the prime summer season.
The deal comes days after another waterfront pub, the Beach Hotel in Byron Bay, changed hands for $70 million, after being snapped up by Melbourne’s wealthy Liberman family.
Meanwhile, flamboyant adman John Singleton has put his Icebergs Dining Room and Bar on a clifftop at Bondi on the market, expecting about $15 million, as revealed by The Australian.
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Famously known for illicit rendezvous involving high-profile sports stars, The Clovelly Hotel sits in one of the eastern suburbs’ more affluent waterside locations. A little-known private local investor will fork out $34 million for the four-level pub in a deal negotiated this week.
Occupying 1708sqm at the junction of Clovelly Rd, the heritage-listed pub, which since last year has been operated by the Solotel Group, comprising Melbourne publican Bruce Solomon and high-profile TV chef Matt Moran on a 20-year lease term, was sold by Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels & Hospitality agent John Musca and Colliers International agent Miron Solomons.
The hotel is one of Sydney’s most popular watering holes.
The pub, built in 1859, sports 15 pokies, a public bar, beer garden, gaming room and accommodation facilities and it is believed to have sold on a yield of about 5%, sources estimated.
“The Cloey”, as it is known, was sold by Sam Arnaout’s Iris Group. Iris appears to have booked a healthy profit, having bought the hotel and tavern for $27.2 million in October 2014, public records show.
Matt Moran and Bruce Solomon will continue to operate the pub.
A development application has since been lodged to increase the size and standard of the hotel’s short-stay options, which presently number 14 hotel rooms with some offering prime sea views.
Celebrity chef Matt Moran will continue to operate the pub.
Musca would not comment on the sale negotiations but he says the opportunity to buy the pub was keenly contested, with wideranging local, interstate and offshore interest.
“This was not surprising given the asset profile and the fact that residential property in the area is selling for nearly $28,000 sqm,” Musca says.
But it’s not just beachside pubs selling strongly in the lead-up to summer.
The building housing the iconic Surry Hills watering hole, The Winery, has just sold for $71.2 million to the Lasalle Investment Management Group.
– with Ben Wilmot
This article originally appeared on www.theaustralian.com.au/property.
