By Vanessa Cavasinni, editor Australian Hotelier
Steven Speed and Peter Walker of WDS Hotels have purchased the Camperdown Hotel from Oscars Hotels for an undisclosed amount.
With three venues in the northern end of Sydney’s CBD and one in the Eastern Sydney suburb of Paddington, the purchase of the Camperdown Hotel is the first move into the inner west city fringe for the group.
The leasehold features a bar, bistro and gaming room with 10 EGMs, and Speed says WDS Hotels sees a lot of potential in the hotel and what it brings to the table for the group.
“The location, its simple offering and to bring a small piece of gaming into our portfolio without a domination,” he said.
Speed also sees similarities between Camperdown Hotel, and the offering at one of the group’s pubs in The Rocks.
“We see it as an easy bolt onto our group, it has a reasonably good local following and a very simple back to basics offering. There are still plenty of people out there that enjoy a quality meal at a reasonable price with a cold beer in and around the city. That’s what makes the Fortune of War in the Rocks so attractive – great interactive service, simple but quality offering at a reasonable price in one of the best cities in the world.”
Blake Edwards of Ray White handled the short sale campaign, with WDS Hotels making the purchase before the EOI campaign had concluded.
"We were not surprised by the demand for the asset considering the entry price for a metropolitan Sydney freehold and the almost $30,000 in weekly gaming revenue the Camperdown Hotel produces," commented Edwards.
Oscars Hotels decided to sell the venue to focus on investing in their larger assets.