Warren Livingstone’s Highclere Hospitality has sold The Australian Hotel in McGrath’s Hill.
Located within Sydney’s rapidly expanding North-West growth corridor, The Australian Hotel occupies a 5,993sqm landholding across two titles.
The hotel features multiple large car parks, a drive-through liquor barn, expansive outdoor areas, and a high-quality gaming offering with 30 gaming machine entitlements and late-trading privileges until 2am. Weekly revenues exceed $175,000 across food, beverage, gaming, and bottle shop operations, with all departments showing strong growth.
The sale campaign was conducted by HTL Property in conjunction with JLL Hotels & Hospitality Group.
Livingstone acquired the freehold in 2022 – the first time the pub had been sold in its 131-year history. He has has since overseen a complete repositioning and refurbishment of the venue, with the modernisation program completed in 2023.
The pub’s renovation ushered in a nostalgic feel for pubs of the 1970s and 80s, with modern tastes in mind. and has left the property in turnkey condition with no immediate capital expenditure required.
“Warren has done [an] outstanding job repositioning the venue during his tenure and the value accretion he has now crystallised is testament to his foresight and operational expertise,” stated MacDonald.
Prominently situated on the arterial Windsor Road, the hotel benefits directly from the government-backed North-West Priority Growth Area, which is forecast to deliver over 33,000 new homes and nearly 100,000 new residents in the coming years.
“The Australian Hotel has been recalibrated into a high-performing suburban hospitality asset, with all the fundamentals astute operators look for, and its sale underlines the continued appetite for quality large-format pubs in Sydney’s growth corridors,” stated Dragicevich.
He added: “There has been a noticeable increase in buyer engagement and transactional activity, resulting in clear yield compression in recent months and we expect a busy period to finish the year.”
As the owner of both Highclere Hospitality and Australia sports tour company Fanatics, Livingstone has this year been focusing on bringing the two businesses together by launching Fanatics Sports Bars in his venues. Each sports bar will be unique and cater to the pub and its local sports-loving community. The Rose & Crown in Parramatta is the first venue on the agenda.