Local publican Garry Miller has sold The Brighton Hotel in Mandurah – the first pub believed to be sold in Western Australia since the COVID-19 shutdown began on 23 March.
A waterfront venue, The Brighton Hotel sits on a 1,300sqm landholding offering north-west estuary views. The venue includes a restaurant, rear public bar and courtyard, and upstairs function area – all of which capitalise on its surrounding views.
The hotel was purchased by a Perth syndicate, with the deal negotiated by CBRE Hotels’ Ryan McGinnity.
“Purchased by a Perth based syndicate the hotel will be operated by a local Mandurah group. The operator foresees a repositioning of the hotel and plans on reopening of the waterfront venue once plans are finalised and trading restrictions lifted,” stated McGinnity.
The sale news comes on the heels of a major lifting of hospitality restrictions in Western Australia, which has seen the state become the most hospitality-friendly in the country currently. The 4sqm rule has been halved to a ‘one-person-per-2sqm’ rule, with a capacity of up to 100 people in separate zones of a venue – up to a maximum capacity of 300 people. These new rules are set to come into effect on Saturday 6 June.
AHA(WA) CEO Bradley Woods welcomed the changes, saying: “This is a critical milestone for WA’s hospitality industry in the battle against COVID-19 and will be celebrated by hospitality operators and staff across the state.”
McGinnity believed The Brighton Hotel is well placed to resume trade at pace shortly.
“The Brighton Hotel is well-established and was generating a consistent weekly revenue prior to its closure on the back of the COVID-19 restrictions – it’s expected to quickly regain traction as tourists and holiday homeowners flock to Mandurah over the July school holidays and months ahead, as lockdowns ease and venue capacities start to increase.”