The Bank Hotel in Maitland has sold to a consortium that includes Arthur Laundy and local licensee Nick Quinn.
The freehold was sold by the Clancy family, who have owned the property for almost a decade. Neither the acquisitive party mor managers of the sale campaign, HTL Property, would be drawn on the price, however it’s been reported to sell for the mid $5 million mark.
The Bank Hotel is situated on 2346 sqm of land, and includes a bar, bistro, beer garden, first-floor function space, 12 EGMs and a 40-space carpark.
Craig Laundy, who has returned to Laundy Hotels after his time in Federal Parliament, said that the Bank Hotel purchase allowed the family to cement the business relationship with Windsor Castle licensee Quinn, as well as continue to tap into a growing area.
“We see the Bank Hotel opportunity as a means to expand our already strong Hunter region property exposure; and in doing so, elaborate further commercially with regard our very positive operational partnership with Nick Quinn.”
Maitland currently has a population of 77,000 people and is one of the strongest performing LGAs in New South Wales in terms of gaming assets.
“The Newcastle and Hunter region is one of Australia’s fastest growing regions both in terms of population and industry, and this satisfies two of our crucial investment criteria when we look to deploy capital,” stated Laundy.
HTL Property’s Blake Edwards, who steered the campaign alongside colleague Xavier Plunkett, said that the lack of regional pub assets hitting the market had made their sales far more competitive.
“Strong transactional volumes for regional hotels over the past 24 months has resulted in a deficit of on-market hotel opportunities for buyers. This, in turn, has created market characteristics normally associated with metropolitan assets; such as cap rate compression and deals being done on an opportunity basis.”