Orion pays $46M for Sydney’s Earlwood Hotel as records continue to tumble
Orion Hotel Group has stumped up $46 million for Sydney’s Earlwood Hotel, as purchases in the pub sector continue to run hot.
The newly formed Orion jumped on the opportunity to purchase the hotel from well-known hotelier Kent Walker.
Traditional pubs are now seen as real estate assets, with multiple revenue streams including food, beverage, alcohol gaming and entertainment earnings.
The Orion Hotel Group is comprised of the Wiggins, Savas and Docker hotel families and has been set up to look for Sydney based hotel acquisitions.
The sale is being managed by HTL’s Andrew Jolliffe, Dan Dragicevich and Sam Handy.
“Whilst clearly not foreign to the property class, it is rewarding to see new consortium’s access A-grade product such as this one-suburb-one-pub asset,” Dragicevich said.
The Earlwood Hotel attracted multiple offers, but ultimately this was a short sale process.
The hotel will now be overhauled.
“We’ve got a great deal planned for this aesthetically magnetic property, but everything we do will be designed to only strengthen the relationship the business has enjoyed with the local community for decades,” said purchaser, Michael Wiggins.
“It really is an extraordinary looking property, and has great scope for repositioning,” he added.
Over the past 18 months, the national hotel landscape has been extremely active, a trend that is set to continue following the record $160 million sale of the Crossroads Hotel last week.
“Notwithstanding the contemporary volume of sales reported, the industry remains hugely fragmented; and it is our submission that those that act strategically and with purpose during this time, will be beneficiaries of sustainable portfolio augmentation for years to come,” Jolliffe said.
Irit Jackson, 21st April 2022
