Marvan Hotels has acquired the freehold of Hotel Delany in Newcastle, one of the most well-known pubs in the city.
While the sale price has not been disclosed, Marvan Hotels – which operates seven hotels throughout Sydney and regional New South Wales – purchased the hotel off father and son duo Gary and Anthony Hird, who have owned and operated the pub for almost twenty years.
Located on Darby St, known as Newcastle’s ‘Eat Street’ for its many F&B propositions, Hotel Delany sits on a 1614 sqm block. The hotel licence includes 22 EGMs, and OLGR recently approved an extension of trading hours for the hotel from midnight to 2am. According to Moore & Moore Real Estate, who sold the property in conjunction with CBRE Hotels on behalf of the Hird family, the revenues of the hotel are in excess of $100,000 per week.
Marvan Hotels director Marcus Levy has brought on Nic Barnett as licensee of Hotel Delany. Barnett is an hotelier with more than 12 years of experience running hotels in Sydney and regional New South Wales, who started his hospitality career in Newcastle in the early 2000s. Moving back to Newcastle from Sydney, Barnett is keen to get back into the Newcastle pub scene, and particularly to take over the reins at Hotel Delany.
“There’s a lot of opportunity in Newcastle, a lot of growth, a lot of changes in the hotel market. I’ve got really good memories of ‘The Del’. It’s a bit of an institution in town and I think the local community want to see it do really well. I’m looking forward to delivering on that.”
Hotel Delany last had a major renovation almost a decade ago, so a renovation of the pub is on the cards for its new owners.
“We’ll definitely be looking to make some changes there. Obviously the market in Newcastle has changed a lot over the last ten years and it’s adapted really well to all the things its need to adapt to. We’d be looking to bring it into a more up-to-date offering and expand on everything that is currently being done,” Barnett told Australian Hotelier.
Marvan Hotels will take over ownership of the pub on Monday 9 April.