Light Brigade pub for sale in frothy market
Popular eastern suburbs watering-hole the Light Brigade Hotel is on the market as its owners – the Bayfield family – choose to focus on their Sydney northern beaches portfolio.
The family paid $9 million for the prominent Paddington pub, which sits on the busy corner of Oxford Street and Jersey Road. It is a go-to live sports venue given its proximity to the Moore Park stadium precinct.
The price expectation, gauged by comparison with similar pubs, is about $20 million. The owners have spent $5 million on upgrades to the 1200 square metre property, which has been operating since the 1880s, by adding a new rooftop bar that boasts uninterrupted views over Sydney Harbour.
The Light Brigade Hotel stands on the highest point in Paddington
HTL Property agents Andrew Jolliffe, Dan Dragicevich and Sam Handy are advising on the sale and said the Bayfields would focus on their pubs at Dee Why and Belrose. In 2015, they sold the Newport Arms to Justin Hemmes to finance the Light Brigade purchase.
“The Bayfields have undoubtedly done a fantastic job developing and repositioning the Light Brigade Hotel during their decade-long tenure,” Dragicevich said. “As such, an incoming operator will take great benefit from the considerable behind-the-scenes investment made, in addition to enjoying increased patronage as a direct result of the activity increase for major concerts and events at the Allianz Stadium and Sydney Cricket Ground precinct.”
‘There’s a strong parallel between the timing of these deals and where we are at in the yield cycle.’
HTL property managing director Andrew Jolliffe
“Our clients have owned the hotel for the best part of 10 years and have recently been approached by numerous parties on an unsolicited basis to buy the hotel.”
He said that with the resurgence of the Oxford Street strip, together with the history and location of the pub, he expects local, interstate and international buyers would actively pursue this opportunity.
The Light Brigade sale comes as the pub market is bouncing back after a quiet start to the year.
Media veteran Bruce Gordon recently sold the Scarborough Hotel, north of Wollongong, to Glenn Piper’s rebranded Epochal group for $9.5 million through agency Colliers.
HTL Property also advised on the sale of the sprawling Jerrabomberra Hotel, in Queanbeyan, to pub fund juggernaut Harvest Hotels.
“There’s a strong parallel between the timing of these deals and where we are at in the yield cycle, which indicates prosperity and more deals in the pubs space,” Jolliffe said.
In another recent pub double deal, the MA Redcape Hotel Fund, now part of the MA Financial group, bought the leasehold of the Criterion Hotel, in the Sydney CBD. Redcape also sold the Crescent Hotel, in Sydney’s Fairfield, to the privately held Gallagher Hotels, the two transactions totalling about $70 million.
The transaction was brokered by JLL Hotels managing director John Musca and executive vice-president Ben McDonald, who said that with varying investment mandates and portfolio aspirations, “this deal aligns perfectly with the corporate focus for both Redcape and Gallagher Hotels at this time”. JLL are also selling the Evening Star pub in Surry Hills.
Savills Australia’s new agent, former Wallaby Drew Mitchell, has been appointed to sell the Empire Hotel in Annandale, owned by high-profile Public Hospitality Group (PHG), led by Jon Adgemis.
PHG has amassed a portfolio of 22 pubs and hotels in Sydney and Melbourne, including the Camelia in Alexandria, Lady Hampshire in Camperdown, and Strand Hotel in Darlinghurst. However, it is trying to refinance debt and is starting to sell some of its pubs.