Newcastle’s Beach Hotel snapped up by Sydney hotelier Andrew Lazarus
Merewether's Beach Hotel has sold to Andrew Lazarus as he continues to expand his Hunter region portfolio.
The Sydney hotelier already owns Hamilton's Exchange Hotel and the Shoal Bay Country Club in Port Stephens.
"When we thought about possibly expanding our hotel portfolio, I thought to myself there would only be one pub in all of Newcastle that we'd be interested in purchasing, and it came along, so I was determined to do everything possible to get our hands on it," Lazarus told the Newcastle Herald.
It was listed for sale through an expressions of interest campaign in October and marketed by Deane Moore, of Moore & Moore Real Estate, in conjunction with Mike Wheatley of Knight Frank.
"The Sydney pub market is just totally unaffordable now and, just getting to the age I am now, we took a decision in terms of lifestyle that we'd love to work and live in this region," Lazarus told the Newcastle Herald.
Lazarus now lives in Shoal Bay, describing the region as “a breath of fresh air”.
“We now live there and absolutely love it and we've achieved more than what I could have possibly imagined in such a short period of time,” he told the Newcastle Herald. “Now we're looking to see if we can emulate that in Newcastle."
Lazarus aims to revamp the food and beverage offering as part of a strategy to boost patron numbers. He is also considering expanding the site’s footprint and extending the trading hours.
"We've got some ideas at this stage but we want to get in there, we want to engage with the community, we want to talk to the locals, we want to get input from architects and designers and all of the rest and then make some decisions and probably look to refurbish the place next year,” Lazarus told the Newcastle Herald.
Lazarus' son Peter will manage the day-to-day operation of The Beach Hotel.
Sheridan Randall, 2nd December 2019
