In another Northern Rivers pub sale of late, the eponymous Grafton Hotel has been sold by the Dougherty family after 41 years of ownership.
Unlike many other recent sales of the past six months, the pub was sold via a public EOI campaign led by HTL Property’s Xavier Plunkett.
The successful purchaser, Jim Knox, is an established hotelier with interests in the Riverina City of Griffith, including the Area Hotel and Gemini Hotel. The vendors for the sale are the well-known Dougherty Family, prominent members of the Northern Rivers business community, who have owned and operated both Westlawn Insurance and Westlawn Finance for the past 50 years, consequently managing in excess of $200 million in investor funds.
The Grafton Hotel offer includes a public bar, bistro, function space, 13 pub-style accommodation rooms, and a gaming room with 15 EGMs. The hotel sits on a 748 sqm land parcel in Grafton’s commercial zone. The hotel has undergone $1 million worth of renovations in the past two years.
“The well-rounded business is producing approximately $55,000 in weekly revenues; circa $40,000 per week of which comes from the highly profitable bar and gaming revenue departments” suggested Plunkett.
“The hotel exhibits many desirable trading characteristics sought after by the most experienced and successful publicans; including a prime CBD location with high levels of pedestrian traffic, proximity to ample car parking, a cost-effective single bar operation, sound underlying revenue base from high-margin profit centres and a significant gaming entitlement holding.”
After 41 years of operations, the Dougherty family believed current market conditions made it a favourable time to sell.
“We are delighted to have achieved such a strong result for our respective families, and are equally excited to see Jim have every success in the venue,” stated Jim Dougherty.
The sale of Grafton Hotel is the latest in the greater Northern Rivers area, which has recently also seen the sales of the Moonee Beach Tavern (Moonee Beach); The Lennox Head Hotel (Lennox Heads); The Sun Hotel (Byron Bay); the Illawong Hotel (Evans Head); and Cheeky Monkeys Restaurant & Bar (Byron Bay).