Landmark Lansdowne Hotel Sold

Following on from the recent high profile sale of the iconic Light Brigade Hotel, leading pub brokerage firm HTL Property proudly announces the successful sale of the Lansdowne Hotel in Chippendale.

The hotel was listed for sale last year and exchanged unconditionally just prior to Christmas; with the identity of the buyer a closely guarded industry secret.

HTL Property’s Sam Handy, Andrew Jolliffe and Blake Edwards sold the hotel in conjunction with Stef Ippolito, following what was a highly competitive sale process.

Situated at the gateway to Sydney’s burgeoning southern CBD and Chinatown, the Lansdowne Hotel is surrounded by some of the city’s largest mixed-use urban renewal redevelopments – including Frasers $2 billion Central Park precinct; as well as numerous demand drivers illustrated by the adjacent Broadway Shopping Centre, RPA Hospital and UTS.

The four-level hotel features an expansive trading footprint, with extensive outdoor areas including a recently approved rooftop beer garden; and which lays claim to being one of the largest within Sydney’s CBD.

Further reinforcing the ability for an incoming operator to trade at scale is the fact that the hotel features a 5:00am liquor licence, complemented by a rare first floor extended trading approval.

The venue also enjoys an approved capacity of 480 patrons at any one time. ‘Whilst institutionally popular as a live entertainment venue, the unmistakable scale of the Lansdowne Hotel lends itself favourably to the further and regular activation of multiple other levels, most notably the expansive rooftop beer garden’ advised HTL Property’s Sam Handy.

‘We’re discreetly working with several underbidders from both this and the Light Brigade Hotel campaign, and that are seeking out inner city hotels that present strong existing businesses and upside via repositioning, renovation and refurbishment’ Handy added.

Unparalleled in terms of the stateliness of the impressive building structure, the opportunity is ripe at The Lansdowne for repositioning with a new food and beverage proposition; the creation of a gaming room, and further capitalising upon the existing strong demand for budget accommodation within the immediate catchment.

Seeking to capitalise upon these business levers, the new owners have wasted no time in repositioning the business by way of leasing it to Melbourne-based restaurateur Julian Romero in April of this year. Romero owns a handful of successful Mexican restaurants under the Happy Mexican moniker; and has now activated a similar food and beverage concept at the Lansdowne Hotel. Romero and his team have continued to operate the hotel as a pub, whilst retaining its well known live music ambiance and association.

This Lansdowne Hotel sale announcement is both a timely and distinct shot of positivity in the arm for the topical inner city Sydney pubs market.

“We’re buoyed by the traction enjoyed by the recent Light Brigade Hotel sale and market depth for inner-city hotels such as The Lansdowne and others we are working with on an off-market basis” added HTL Property Managing Director, Andrew Jolliffe.

“Impending stage 3 tax concessions, an interest rate cycle which has increased at a decreasing rate for 6 months and representing a macro change in fiscal cadence, coupled with the sale of numerous hotels nationally and which are yet to be publicly disclosed; all strongly suggests to us a strengthening of key actor sentiment in the broader hotel industry” Jolliffe concluded.

End.