By Clyde Mooney
The tall figure immortalized in bronze on the NRL Telstra Cup’s trophy is retiring and selling up his hotel interests in Queensland.
Norm ‘Sticks’ Provan captained the St George football club for most of their record eleven premiership wins in the 50’s and 60’s and represented Australia between 1956 and 1960.
Provan developed the successful Rydges Oasis Resort in Caloundra and holds title to the majority of the villas. The site features the famous ‘Legends’ bar named after Norm’s Dragons team.
Also for sale is the Beach House Hotel, one of Hervey Bay’s most popular dining and entertainment venues, established during Federation in 1900.
Both locations have strong trading histories and are expected to attract plenty of local and national interest, despite the record number of venues currently on the market.
The two sites will be marketed by divisions of international real estate giant CBRE with offerings closing mid-May.
CBRE Hotels’ associate director Paul Nyholt and CBRE Sunshine Coast managing director Rem Rafter will market Provan’s majority interest in the Rydges Oasis Resort on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast.
The Beach House Hotel on Queensland’s Fraser Coast will be taken to market through CBRE Hotels’ Craig Harley and Peter Ward, of CBRE’s Sunshine Coast office.
“With Norm nearing his 80th birthday he and his wife Lindy have decided to retire and let someone else take control of their interests in Rydges Oasis and the Beach House Hotel,” Nyholt said.
“Both properties are situated in premium locations and offer strong trading histories. As a result, we expect significant local and national interest in the campaign.”
Harley said the sale campaign was expected to generate strong interest from national hotel groups, owner operators and developers.
“In the current market, purchasers are focused on properties which offer diverse income streams and future upside,” he said.
“In the case of the Beach House, all areas of the existing hotel operation, including the food and beverage offering, gaming, accommodation and the bottle shop business, are performing well and there is considerable scope to build on the existing business.”
The Beach House offers indoor/outdoor dining, a large beer garden, 25 gaming machine authorities, a drive-through bottle shop and a motel wing which includes 11 rooms and a three-bedroom manager’s residence.
“Norm is a genuinely nice bloke that was always good to me. He was always easy to talk to and it will be sad to see the end of an era,” Beach House Hotel manager Tim Campion told TheShout.