Pub baron Arthur Laundy buys Woolwich Pier Hotel and Woolloomooloo Bay Hotel
Pub baron Arthur Laundy. Picture: Supplied
ARTHUR Laundy says food will be a focus at his newly purchased Panania, Woolwich Pier and Woolloomooloo Bay hotels
Laundy, a veteran of the pub game, admitted that while prices were high and interest rates at record lows, he still had faith in the market.
“I am very confident, but I do worry about the bubble bursting, mainly because I’ve watched it burst four times in my 50 years in the hotel trade,” he says.
“I’m still buying and still paying the cost for it, but some of them are selling for a little more than they should be selling for.
“I had lunch with the Commonwealth Bank the other day and said the same thing to them. It’s when the bubble bursts, that’s when we run into trouble.
The Woolwich Pier Hotel. Picture: Craig Greenhill
“The good ones are bringing good money but I think prices are fairly inflated right now, and that always alerts me to a danger sign. It worries me right now.
“(But) if you wanted to sell, if you were interested about selling, I’d be going right now.”
He purchased Panania from the Feros Group and Woolwich Pier and Woolloomooloo Bay hotels from Medich Corporation’s Halcyon Group.
The Laundy hotel group is quite diverse with pubs across Sydney from its base at Twin Willows in Bass Hill to more iconic venues such as the refurbished Watsons Bay Hotel.
“It is a balance, yes,” Laundy says. The family company also has partnership with major pub owner Woolworths.
Laundy bought a half share off Chris Feros’ Panania Hotel along with Mark Molloy, whose mother owns the Railway Hotel in Lidcombe.
“We’re very much in the western suburbs, and he (Molloy) is probably even more so,” says Laundy.
The Woolloomooloo Bay Hotel. Picture: John Appleyard
“We’ll run it the same way but I think Chris might be taking his chef with him which means we’ll have to find somebody to go over there,” he says.
But Laundy is happy with the dining offerings at his new purchases elsewhere, including the Woolwich Pier.
“It’s a classy restaurant arrangement. I’m just hopeful we can maintain it. There is little I could do to improve it,” he says.
The Woolloomooloo Bay Hotel is a longer-term food proposition as it doesn’t settle for 12 months and still has five to six years to run on its existing lease.
“Woolloomooloo Bay is one of those iconic hotels. I quite enjoy those iconic hotels,” says NSW’s biggest publican who also owns Northies in Cronulla and The Steyne in Manly.
“They are nice hotels, they are hotels that are a pleasure to go in and try and give them a lift.”
This year has proved one of the busiest periods for pub sales with close to $850 million worth of properties changing hands since January in NSW alone.
Source : The Daily Telegraph Grant Jones June 30th 2015
