Enmore’s Sly Fox Hotel in new hands after $11m sale
An iconic Sydney pub that closed its doors following a stoush with the Inner West Council over operating hours will look vastly different after being snapped up in a secret deal.
Sydney publican Ged Dore, who owns the Henson Park Hotel and nearby Salisbury Hotel in Stanmore, paid $10.75 million for the leasehold interest of Enmore’s Sly Fox Hotel.
The quintessential Sydney pub had been a 24-hour venue for 21 years until January, with it hosting international DJs, live bands, comedy nights and dance parties.
The long-running battle over the venue’s trading hours started in 2016 when NSW licensing authorities discovered the pub had been operating on a lapsed 24-hour licence that expired in 1999 while conducting a review.
The Inner West Council later stepped in and allowed the venue to stay open all day if live music stopped at 3am.
Publican Brett Strauss poses for a photo at Enmore’s Sly Fox. Picture: AAP IMAGE / MONIQUE HARMER.
However, the council retracted their 2016 letter of consent last year because a development application made by the pub to have live music after 3am was found to be invalid. The venue was told it would have to reapply to keep trading for 24 hours a day.
Despite a campaign to save the pub, the council voted in December to restrict its operating hours until 12am.
This saw the Sly Fox Hotel close in January after saying the changes impacted the venue’s ability to operate.
Industry stalwart Dore is said to be considering ditching the venue’s nightclub model for a low-energy community focused pub operation.
“Our vendor’s brief was to secure him a quality tenant which would be able to build a sustainable business model in concert with both the local community, and the framework required by council,” Sam Handy of HTL Property said.
“Given Ged’s experience with community based hospitality activations, we feel satisfied that we’ve delivered upon the required brief.”
The off-market sale was negotiated on behalf of commercial property investor Shadd Danesi by HTL Property’s Sam Handy and Dan Dragicevich.
It had been a 24-hour venue until council recommendations required it to close at 12am. Photo: Jeremy Piper
It follows Mr Danesi recently selling a number of his other hotel interests including the Imperial Hotel in Erskineville and Mr Mary’s in Redfern.
Sly Fox is located at the top of Enmore Rd and features 15 poker machines and 12 accommodation rooms.
Dore has operated some of Sydney’s largest hotels including Manly’s Hotel Steyne and Bondi’s Beach Road Hotel.
This article from The Daily Telegraph originally appeared as “Enmore’s Sly Fox Hotel sells for nearly $11 million to prominent inner west publican Ged Dore”.
