By Annette Shailer
The Royal Mail Hotel in Braidwood, NSW, where the Ned Kelly movie was filmed, has been sold for an undisclosed sum.
Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels, Manager – Pub Investment Sales, Sam Handy, acting on behalf of the appointed receiver/manager McGrath Nicol, negotiated the transaction with a private investor from Wollongong after it was passed in its auction.
The Royal Mail Hotel features a public bar, gaming room with six Electronic Gaming Machines (EGMs), dining room, beer garden, manager’s residence and accommodation rooms.
“The new owner seeks to implement several value-add opportunities over the next couple of years,” Handy said.
The hotel is part of the Big Bert portfolio of pubs which was sold at auction last year, including Charles Hotel ($5.4m), Steelworks Hotel ($1.87m) and Port Kembla Hotel ($1.35m). All three properties were also negotiated by Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels.
The sale of the Royal Mail Hotel further demonstrates the trend of increased demand for pub investments outside of the major cities, which benefits owners of quality assets within regional NSW.
According to Handy, the recent sale of the Charles Hotel for a sub 10 per cent yield and other hotels within the Big Bert portfolio underpin the firm’s research that strong yields can still be found outside of the Sydney metropolitan area.
Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels transacted well over $200m worth of pubs during 2009 with pub investors demonstrating a particularly keen appetite for regional assets. Interest for regional pubs now extends beyond the traditional family owners to both private and institutional investors.
“Some private equity and investor groups are seeking a presence in leading regional centres within NSW”, Handy said. “Investors are particularly keen to look at assets that are distressed and offer upside through development, repositioning or simply through ongoing higher returns”.