HTL Sells Qld Pub to Australia’s Largest Operator

Following last week’s announcement of the sale of The Emu Hotel & Bottleshop for $32m in Adelaide, ALH Group has again teamed up with Charter Hall Group to purchase the Tandara Hotel; situated at Sarina in the coastal region of Mackay (Queensland).

Having become the hotel industry’s largest property partner, Charter Hall have acquired the Freehold interest with ALH taking on a long-term lease of the pub operation; and in doing so, adding to their already impressive portfolio of more than 350 licenced venues nationally.

The national campaign for “The Tandy” was conducted by industry specialists HTL Property, with Queensland Directors Glenn Price & Brent McCarthy managing the sale process.

The Tandara Hotel occupies a large 5,100sqm* corner block in the centre of town, enjoying street frontages to both the Bruce Highway and Central Street. Offering 31 tightly held Coastal QLD gaming machine authorities, 15 motel rooms, a dual lane drive through bottle shop, TAB, public bar, beer garden and bistro – the extremely well-rounded business generates income with an even spread across all departments.

The sale realises ALH’s acquisition of the business from the incumbent Waratah Hotel Group, an unlisted and stapled property investment group actively participating in hotel and accommodation assets across Australia; and who only a fortnight ago sold the Diplomat Hotel in Alice Springs to Sam Arnaout’s Iris Capital – a transaction which was also handled by HTL Property’s Glenn Price and Brent McCarthy.

“Numerous seasoned syndicators like Waratah Hotel Group and The Duxton Group are taking advantage of buoyant market conditions, repositioning their respective portfolios through the divestment of assets and the strategic acquisition of others” commented HTL Property Director, Glenn Price.

“This activity has also led to a new wave of investment capital and unlisted vehicles such as Harvest Hotel Group, which has itself been breaking significant ground upon the national landscape, drawn to it by the competitive benefits of scale” Price added.

The Waratah Group led by CEO Darren Baker, announced in July a special distribution of 30.0c per unit to stakeholders for the 2022 financial year. This payment was in addition to the 8.0c per unit distribution that Waratah had already paid to stakeholders for FY2022.

The distribution resulted from the successful completion of a number of transactions including the sale of the Amaroo Tavern Moree (NSW) which was settled in December 2021; and the Victoria Hotel Wagga Wagga (NSW) which was settled in May 2022. HTL Property having exclusively handled the divestment of all four hotels on behalf of Waratah.

“HTL Property continues to enjoy the solid relationship it operates with all stakeholders involved in the Sarina transaction, having now acted for and sold many properties to, the respective parties highlighted” advised HTL Property Director, Brent McCarthy.

“Accordingly, the hotel industry continues to see the national corporate players adding to their portfolios, ensuring revenue growth and acquisition targets are duly met” concluded McCarthy.

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