ALE Sells Melbourne Hotels

By Andrew Starke

Four Melbourne pubs leased to the 75 percent Woolworths-owned Australian Leisure & Hospitality Group (ALH) were today sold under the hammer for a combined value of $29.85 million.

The Royal Hotel, Essendon; Mountain View Hotel, Glen Waverley; Westmeadows Tavern, Westmeadows; and Eltham Hotel, Eltham were all sold as part the listed ALE Property Group’s ongoing sale of assets.

A further three Brisbane hotels are scheduled to be auctioned on March 3 at the Brisbane Polo Club.

The Mountain View Hotel achieved the highest sale of $10.9 million, translating to a sale yield of 6.95 percent.

Competitive bidding saw the Westmeadows Tavern at Westmeadows sell for $4.4 million on a yield of 6.2 percent, while the Royal Hotel at Essendon sold for $6.785 million on a yield of 6.27 percent.

The Eltham Hotel at Eltham changed hands for $7.9 million on a yield of 6.43 percent.

CBRE Hotels’ agents Joel Fisher, Scott Callow and Craig Harley were the joint marketing agents for the properties in conjunction with Raoul Holderhead, Billy Holderhead, Pat Kelly and Dean Venturato of Burgess Rawson.

Fisher said there was strong local and interstate bidding for all four properties.

The Mountain View, Royal and Eltham Hotels sold to local private investors, with the Westmeadows Tavern selling to a Sydney-based buyer.

Fisher said the bidding at today’s auction set the stage for next week’s auction of the Stones Corner Hotel, Stones Corner; Royal Exchange Hotel, Toowong; and Oxford 152 Hotel, Bulimba - all in Brisbane.