Sydney’s significant pub sales continue with purchase of Royal Albert in Surry Hills

A view of the gaming room of the Royal Albert Hotel.

A recent spade of inner-city Sydney pub sales has continued this week with The Royal Albert Hotel being purchased by Memento Hospitality.

The sale is the second inner city hotel acquisition made by HTL Property and follows an acquisition last week of the Young Family’s Friend in Hand Hotel in the Sydney suburb of Glebe.

Known as one of Sydney’s oldest and most colourful pubs and previously voted as Australia’s ‘Craft Beer Venue of the Year, The Royal Albert Hotel arrived to market for the first time in 10 years after publican Michael Bain decided to move on.
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The Royal Albert Hotel at 140 Commonwealth St.

The cosy venue was once a regular post-work haunt for the city’s toughest cops, given it is only a few minutes walk from the Surry Hills Police Police Area Command, one of the biggest police stations in the country.

It is notably part-owned by NRL legend Bryan Fletcher who has been a partner in the hotel over the last decade.

“It’s been a great journey with that little pub, and as a consortium we’ve elected to pursue other capital deployment objectives at this juncture,” Mr Fletcher said.

A view of the bar of The Royal Albert Hotel.

Ex-publican Michael Bain with crafty schooners at the Royal Albert Hotel, Surry Hills.

Brought to market by HTL Property agents Sam Handy and Blake Edwards, the hotel was sold for an undisclosed sale price that was consistent with market guidance by the agency over the course of the Expressions of Interest sale campaign.

The Australian reported the sales figure at around $10 million.

“We’re delighted to have curated this outcome for our clients and following our recent sales of other notable inner city hotels such as the Friend in Hand Hotel in Glebe, Dry Dock Hotel in Balmain and both the Hotel Hollywood and Bat and Ball Hotel in Surry Hills.

Infamous Former New South Wales detective Roger Rogerson was once a regular drinker at the Royal Albert.

“We get the strong sense that the inner-city market will enjoy sustained investor interest for some time,” Mr Handy said.

Surry Hills has grown increasingly popular, with median house prices growing from $985,000 in 2013 to $2.04m at the end of 2021.

Ex NRL player Bryan Fletcher partially owned The Royal Albert Hotel. Pic, Sam Ruttyn

The Royal Albert boasts annual revenues in excess of $1.5m with a strong existing food and beverage business.

According to the listing, the site is 221 sqm with sold underlying land and building value combined with development upside.
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