Harvest Hospitality has announced the sale of the Northside Hotel in Albury for $27 million, as part of the group’s ongoing plan to sell selected assets and return funds to investors.
After acquiring the Northside Hotel in 2021 for $16.2 million, Harvest sold a portion of the block and the bottle shop business in 2023 before completing a $3 million refurbishment of the venue in 2024. Today, the pub features a public bar, sports bar, bistro, kids playground and motel-style accommodation offering.
Harvest Hospitality’s chief development officer and co-founder, Fraser Haughton, says: “When we purchased The Northside, our goal was to strengthen its position as a true pillar of the local community.
“We invested in operational improvements, launched initiatives such as our Harvest Gold loyalty program and supported a range of community partners. We delivered an extensive capital works program, designed with the community front of mind, to create a pub that was for everyone. This strategy drove significant growth in visitation, reputation, earnings, and overall asset value.
“We’re proud of the result we’ve delivered for our investors, and equally proud of the experiences we’ve created for our staff and loyal patrons at The Northside.”
HTL Property’s Andrew Jolliffe and Blake Edwards handled the transaction of the freehold going concern, with the sale expected to settle in February 2026.
Jolliffe commented: “The successful sale of Albury’s iconic Northside Hotel serves as another positive bellwether regarding market appetite, and the expediency of well prosecuted regional investment strategies. Sophisticated investor ant tracks through regional centres nationally, such as Albury, are and have been since the global pandemic, in the ascendency.”
The sale follows Harvest Hospitality’s divestments of The Milestone Hotel, Dubbo and The Aussie Inn, Adelaide in August for a combined value exceeding $50 million. Both pubs were sold within 12 months of being refurbished, as part of Harvest’s broader strategy to return funds to investors in its Harvest Pub Funds (HPF) 1 and 3.
In January, the Milestone Hotel debuted a new look after a six-week renovation project to enhance the pub’s footprint with the addition of a new public bar, expansion of the bistro and the removal of an in-venue bottle shop. New fixtures, fittings and equipment were also introduced.
Prior to that, the Aussie Inn underwent a multi-million dollar refurbishment to reposition the venue as a premium pub in South Adelaide. The transformation included an expanded footprint – bringing the total capacity to 650 pax – and the creation of multiple zones tailored to different demographics.
Group CEO and co-founder, Chris Conforth, says renovations remain a key pillar in Harvest’s portfolio strengthening strategy.
“While we continue to strategically sell assets from HPF1 and HPF3, we’re equally focused on the growth of our portfolio. This includes executing capital works across some of our remaining underdeveloped pubs like The Jerrabomberra Tavern in Queanbeyan and The Victoria Hotel in Wagga Wagga early next year.
“Delivering on the investment objectives of HPF 1 and 3 and selling these optimised assets allows us to continue creating new offerings and experiences that will add value to our people, patrons and investors,” Conforth added.
New fund capital raise commences
When rebranding from Harvest Hotels to Harvest Hospitality earlier this year, the investment manager and operator also expanded its investment offerings with the launch of two new funds, allowing the group to add more venues to its portfolio, explore diverse hospitality offerings and deliver new development projects.
Harvest will be commencing a capital raise across the two new investment vehicles in the coming weeks.
The closed-end Harvest Hospitality Opportunities Fund aims to deliver medium-term returns by investing in both freehold and leasehold pub assets. The fund is targeting $200-300 million in assets over five to seven years, with expected annual returns of 15-17 per cent after fees. Investor payouts will begin after two to three years, mainly from selling individual assets.
The open-ended Harvest Hospitality Income Fund aims to provide steady cash payouts by investing in pubs – it plans to grow $500 million in assets with yearly returns of 10-12 per cent after fees, including six to eight per cent paid out as dividends, which investors can begin cashing out in year three.