Bullish Hotel Sector Continues with Record Sale in Beef Capital of Australia

Leading national hospitality brokerage firm, HTL Property, has sounded the bell on the record-breaking regional Queensland transaction in the form of The Gracemere Tavern in the central Queensland City of Rockhampton.

The Gracemere Hotel has been sold by the Cook Beaumont and Partners Hotel syndicate based in Melbourne; which was looking to streamline its operations, viewing the Hotel as an outlier within its substantial interstate portfolio.

The campaign was successfully conducted by HTL’s Queensland Directors, Glenn Price and Brent McCarthy. The exceptional Coastal Queensland Freehold Going Concern Hotel is the only Hotel servicing the surrounding region; with some 13,500* local residents and incorporating 33 tightly held Coastal Gaming Machine Authorities - with approval to increase to 37.

The sale of the Gracemere Hotel sets a new price record for a regional asset within the state post covid.

"HTL Property continues to leverage our relationships with interstate publicans, who recognise compelling value in the Queensland market; and who are prepared to look wider than just the Southeast region" advised HTL Property Director, Brent McCarthy.

“Despite inflationary headwinds, there still exists an unsatisfied depth of equity looking to be invested into the sector, and which has again shown that it is one of the most resilient sectors within wider commercial property markets. Assets with strong revenue generation models and underwritten property fundamentals remain in high demand; with a particular interest in assets that exceed $1.5M in annual net profit being preferred, and being sought by corporate operators, private equity groups, and family offices all looking at deploying significant capital
sums" added HTL Property Director, Glenn Price.

Rockhampton, a major regional city nationally, is commonly referred to as the Beef Capital of Australia. The greater Rockhampton region (Fitzroy Basin) currently houses over 3 million head of cattle grazing throughout the region; is predominantly dominated by beef cattle, and is the top cattle region in Australia with the highest head of cattle numbers. The Central Queensland Livestock Exchange (formerly the Gracemere Saleyards) is located on the western side of the town. It is the largest cattle sales facility in the Southern Hemisphere, with a total daily processing capacity of 2,400 head.

HTL Property would not be drawn as to the identity of the purchaser, other than to say that a significant industry operator from NSW had acquired the Gracemere Hotel.

"Our successful purchaser is both a multistate operator and emblematic of the new wave of investors seeking cross-border operational exposure with meaningful bets being placed in order to achieve this outcome; and with similar announcements to follow very shortly, we hold a positive rating on the sector outlook" concluded HTL Property Managing Director, Andrew Jolliffe.

HTL Property, 24^th July 2023