Lenders move to sell Adgemis’ South Bondi Hotel
Receivers are gearing up to offload the South Bondi Hotel—considered the prize of Jon Adgemis’ property holdings—with a sales campaign slated to launch before year-end.
At a creditors’ meeting for Adgemis’ companies last week, KordaMentha administrator Ryan Rabbitt said lenders plan to sell the Campbell Parade site, formerly Noah’s Backpackers. Agencies are now pitching to run the campaign on behalf of the receivers.
Market chatter suggests lenders face a shortfall on the asset. Sources indicate the block could fetch around $60 million, despite speculation of a push for up to $80 million. Adgemis bought Noah’s Backpackers in 2022 for $68.5 million, outbidding rivals including Inghams heir Robby Ingham and publican George Karageorge. The 260-bed hostel was acquired alongside an adjoining six-apartment building, now in a separate legal dispute with lender Angas Securities.
Adgemis had flagged plans to merge the two holdings into a high-end tourist hotel steps from Bondi Beach, but construction has dragged. Despite ordering bathrobes and slippers for the South Bondi Hotel, deadlines slipped repeatedly.
Sources close to Adgemis’ camp said the venue’s dining and bar spaces were once targeted to open by April this year, with rooms to follow by year-end.
Deutsche Bank, among the financiers, was repeatedly briefed on progress as lenders backed a major refinancing to complete works across three remaining venues.
Any purchaser will inherit an in-progress build and the challenge of executing the original luxury hotel vision. Meanwhile, other former Adgemis assets are also being readied for sale, including the Empire Hotel in Annandale—on the market for months—and the Diplomat Hotel (Bayswater House) in Potts Point.
Angas Securities last year moved to recover nearly $25 million tied to the smaller Bondi property next to the Noah’s site. The lender first tested the market at $15 million before re-listing at $12.5 million, and industry sources speculate Angas could seek to package that sale with the South Bondi Hotel, which remains largely a gutted construction zone.
Jonathan Jackson, 21st October 2025
