Albert Park’s Beach Hotel sells to Chinese

Melbourne waterside pub the Beach Hotel at Albert Park and a neighbouring Foodworks supermarket have been sold to Chinese investors.

The pub, once owned by Collingwood Football Club in an ill-fated investment, sits on one of the city’s most prominent bayside corners directly opposite Port Phillip Bay.

The two-storey venue was built in the 1880s and has undergone numerous refurbishments over the last 130 years. It now features bars, dining rooms, functions spaces, an outdoor courtyard and guest rooms on the second level, as well as poker machines.

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Combined, the pub and supermarket draw an annual income of more than $758,000, with the hotel also licensed for 32 poker machines.

CBRE Hotels’ Scott Callow and Mark Wizel marketed the sales campaign, and while the sale price was not disclosed, some reports put it at around $18 million.

Callow says the affluence of the surrounding bayside area made for a hotly contested sales process, with both local and foreign buyers making a play for the property.

“Located in the heart of Albert Park, the Beach Hotel and neighbouring Foodworks supermarket service a prosperous inner bayside suburb of established families and independent young professionals,” he says.

“This affluent suburb is earmarked for future residential development, which will ensure this venue is well positioned to benefit.”