Ancient Briton Hotel in Glebe For Sale by HTL Property

The Ancient Briton Hotel in Glebe has been listed for sale leading into the final quarter of what has been one of the most transactional years on record for the New South Wales pubs market.

Leading pub brokerage HTL Property has been exclusively appointed to sell the hotel with Sam Handy, Dan Dragicevich and Andrew Jolliffe retained to steer the campaign.

The landmark inner-city hotel, affectionately known as the AB Hotel by locals, has been owned and operated by the intensely private Seeto family for a period of around 25 years.

‘It’s hard to believe that our family has owned and operated the AB Hotel for almost a quarter of a century’ suggested longtime owner Victor Seeto.

‘It holds a very special place in our family’s heart but it’s time to pass the torch onto another hotelier with fresh energy and focus that can elevate the hotel to its rightful place within the local community’ he added.

The sale comes after numerous recent unsolicited offers to buy the hotel and follows unanimous resolution from within the family that it’s time to sell.

‘The tumultuous nature of the hospitality sector since the onset of COVID has undoubtedly given rise to the resetting of some generational hotelier family divestment horizons, suggested agent for the sale Sam Handy.

‘The Seeto family have not only weathered that storm but have set the business up very well for the next operator and we are expecting the existing weight of unsatisfied capital still left in the market to deliver a strong outcome’ he added.

Prominently perched on a high profile 481 sqm land holding at the corner of Bridge Street and Glebe Point Road, the multi-level hotel represents one of the most compelling hotel acquisitions of the year with obvious upside levers across all revenue departments – bar, bistro, gaming and wagering.

The lack of available hospitality staff in combination with a diminished CBD workforce has meant that the business has been operated as a ‘low energy’ gaming operation over the last 2.5 years with over 85% of trading areas shutdown and the hotel regularly being closed by 9pm.

With 25 valuable gaming machines, the business historically hovered between #250 and #300 in the ILGA gaming rankings prior to COVID-19 restrictions and closures but has begun to regain this position with the return of the CBD workforce and a decreasing number of gaming machines within the competitor catchment.

In anticipation for the new $750 million Fish Markets redevelopment, the owners have leveraged the hotels existing ‘early opener’ trading approvals and recently received DA approval to open the hotels gaming room from 5:00am and onwards.

‘We’ve been trading the gaming room from 6:00am to 12:00 midnight over the last 13 weeks and it has been delivering record turnover and revenue over this period of time’ added Seeto.

Furthermore, the new M4-M5 and Rozelle interchange link will see vehicular traffic further intensify along Bridge Street as it  becomes an alternative arterial route into the CBD.

The Ancient Briton Hotel is being sold via Expression of Interest closing Thursday 10th November 2022 (if not sold prior).

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