Townsville’s Rising Sun Hotel sold for $20 million
The Rising Sun Hotel in Townville has been sold for what’s believed to be $20 million.
The price is impressive given the north Queensland hotel, located next to a Coles car park, was bought for $1.45 million 30 years ago.
The Rising Sun was snapped up by the Moelis-run Redcape Hotel Group which is now expanding its footprint with recent acquisitions including the Crescent Hotel and Cabramatta Hotel in Sydney, and Mackay’s Andergrove Hotel.
The Rising Sun is the group’s second north Queensland pub purchase in six months.
It means Redcape is not done picking up pubs around Australia, particularly on the eastern seaboard.
Dan Brady, chief executive of the Moelis-run Redcape Hotel Group, confirmed the sale.
“The Rising Sun hotel is a quality asset that complements our portfolio of strategically located, largely freehold-owned hotels,” Brady told realcommercial.com.au.
“This accretive acquisition is in line with our disciplined approach to acquiring quality assets that generate shareholder value.”
Redcape bought the Rising Sun from industry stalwart Peter Ryan who had bought the pub for $1.45 million in 1988.
The sale was managed by Andrew Jolliffe of Ray White Hotels.
He said the national hotel market was attracting attention from a wide variety of investors, not just the hotel industry.
“In the past week we have collaborated with industry veterans, listed vehicles and private investment houses to coordinate over $100 million worth of freehold hospitality transactions across the nation,” Joliffe told realcommercial.com.au
Analysis from CBRE’s Queensland Hotel Market Outlook shows Queensland pubs are becoming increasingly popular with investors.
All of this is coming at a time when Coles is looking for a way to divest pubs from its assets, removing its association with gaming. At the same time, Coles wants to keep its bottle shop.
So far, it hasn’t been successful because Queensland legislation only allows the trading of bottle shops when they are attached to a hotel licence.
Leon Getler 20th June 2018.
