Hospitality veterans Jamie and Gina Fitzgerald have sold the Paragon Hotel in Mudgee to an experienced hotelier syndicate led by Mudgee local Steve Harding and business partner Scott Still.
A decision was made by the Fitzgerald family to sell the hotel as they consolidate their portfolio to focus on their primary pub venue, The Woolpack Hotel.
As Harding and Still prepare to take over operations of the venue, the syndicate intends to expand on the foundation already established and continue to grow overall revenue.
The sale of the prized assets includes the Paragon Hotel, residential cottage on 82 Gladstone Street and five strata titled terrace buildings at 36 Perry Street, situated on a total land size comprising of 4,477sqm which functions under the greater hotel operation and occupies a prime corner position on Perry Street and Gladstone Street.
The hotel asset includes a single public bar operation, gaming room with six gaming machine entitlements, a modernised pavilion-style beer garden and 13 first-floor accommodation rooms.
Proving popular with locals and tourists alike, the pub has historically generated a weekly average revenue of $80,000 ex GST, with peak trading periods that have exceeded $100,000 ex GST.
The sale also includes an approved development application for the addition of 11 motel suites on the northwestern periphery of the site, offering significant development potential as the region benefits from growing tourism and a forecast population increase of 32 per cent by 2041.
The transaction, which has been described as the largest hotel deal to occur in Mudgee, was managed by JLL Hotels & Hospitality Group, and negotiated by JLL specialist hotel brokers Greg Jeloudev and Edward Browne in an off-market expression of interest process.
Having targeted specific buyer profiles with the capacity and appetite to acquire an asset of such scale and revenue mix, Jeloudev noted: “The sale of the Paragon Hotel demonstrates the continued prioritisation for regional assets with a diversified trade mix. The valuable underlying real assets, coupled with excellent profitability, drew substantial interest from local and metropolitan investors alike.”