Byron Bay’s Beach Hotel smashes Aussie pub record with $100m sale

If anywhere was going to go large and beat the Australian pub price record, it was going to be in the exclusive boho beach enclave of Byron Bay – home to some of the priciest property in the country.

Originally a family pub run by Sale of the Century hostess Delvene Delaney and her producer husband – and best mate to Paul Hogan, John “Strop” Cornell – The Beach Hotel in Byron has reportedly been sold for a eye-popping $100 million.

Records show that global investment group Moelis has entered into an exclusivity agreement to purchase the 4585sq m property that Delaney and Cornell, who produced and co-wrote the international blockbuster Crocodile Dundee, spent about $9 million building up in the 1990s.

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Although it is yet to officially be a done deal, news has broken that the record price (believed to be just over the $100 million mark) has already been decided and the sale will go through before Christmas.

The Beach Hotel in Byron Bay.

When the ink dries, the Beach Hotel will be managed by ASX-listed company, Moelis Australia Hotel Management.

Dan Brady, CEO of Moelis Australia Hotel Management CEO describes the almost waterfront hotel as an “iconic Australian establishment located on irreplaceable real estate.”

“The acquisition of both freehold and operating interests will enable the required capital investment to further enhance what has made the hotel iconic – that is, a great community gathering place with a fun, sociable, friendly and safe hospitality offering delivered by an engage and passionate team of local hospitality professionals,” Brady says in a prepared statement.

The Beach Hotel at Byron Bay in 2006.

The Beach Hotel has only changed hands a couple of times since Delaney and Cornell offloaded it for $44 million in 2007.

Affectionately known as “The Beachie” among regulars, the Byron watering hole is being sold by Impact Investment Group, a Melbourne-based firm that is a joint venture between the Liberman and van Haandel families.

Although hospitality and restaurant personalities, John and Lisa van Haandel, have been running the property since 2007, Impact had bought into the 25-room boutique hotel, retail suites and eateries in 2017 for $68.2 million.

The Beach Hotel has been the heart and soul of Byron Bay. Picture: RealCommercial

This time around, Impact joined forces with the van Haandels to sell the property along with the operating rights through marketing agents JLL, making it the first time in decades that a cashed up buyer has the chance to lock in both the hotel business and the coveted location.

This article from The Daily Telegraph originally appeared as “Byron Bay Beach Hotel: Australian pub record smashed with $100m sale”.