By Vanessa Cavasinni, editor Australian Hotelier
Savills Australia has announced the creation of a pubs division in its Brisbane offices.
The global real estate agency has expanded their national hotels division with a pubs team made up of seven agents and two support staff, led by Tony Bargwanna as director. Bagwanna has a long history in pub real estate, having worked as the senior vice president for JLL Hotels for almost a decade, before becoming the managing director of Ray White Hotels in 2010.
Michael Simpson, managing director of Savills Australia and New Zealand, said he was delighted to establish a pub division at the company, under Bargwanna’s leadership.
“It has been a key element of our strategy to grow the Savills’ team to acquire a pub hotels division to complement the success that we have had in accommodation hotels.
“The market has a small number of players who have strong track records as well as the right relationships. Tony Bargwanna was responsible for establishing the JLL pubs division over 17 years ago and we have worked together in many different capacities over that time. He is the undisputed market leader in pub transactions in Queensland.”
Simpson also noted that the timing was auspicious, with the strength of the Queensland market growing after so much focus on New South Wales and Victoria.
“Now that many of the pubs have traded in the southern markets, the focus of both domestic and international capital is shifting to the Queensland market where pubs are showing robust returns with further growth forecast. The timing of this team acquisition means Savills is poised to capitalise on this next wave of growth and transactions.”