RECEIVER McGrath Nichol will sell two Queensland pubs, on behalf of the Ryan Hotel Group.

Up for grabs is the Del Plaza at Southport, and the Grinning Dog Tavern at Maroochydore. Earlier this year, six other Ryan Hotel Group hotels were put to the market including the Woombye, Maryborough and Roma. Ryan collapsed in July. The properties are distressed sales, and the prices are undisclosed.

Director of advisory firm and agency Power Jeffrey, Peter Power, told The Australian "there haven't been many good quality hotels on the market for the past 18 months, and as valuers we are having great difficulty because we have no (sale result) evidence to work off".

SYDNEY's Canterbury Hotel is believed to be close to sale for about $8.85 million, while the Lidcombe Hotel - also in the city's west - is believed to be selling for about $6.6 million.

The hotels, being offered by the Hedley Gaming & Leisure Fund, are part of a $400 million portfolio of assets believed to be on the market.

A third Sydney pub, the Bridgeview Hotel in Willoughby, near the Channel Nine studio, is also believed to be close to sale, for about $7.5 million.

AUSTRALIAN Leisure and Hospitality Group is reported to have paid $19 million for the St Albans Hotel in Melbourne's west.

ALH, which is three quarter owned by Woolworths, is expanding its portfolio in light of new Victorian government requirements that a single operator owns no more than 35 per cent of the State's gaming machines, by 2012. ALH, which owns more than that, is expected to sell off properties and machines within its portfolio, before that time.

THE pocket around South Melbourne Market may see yet another crane, if developers buy the Southern Cross Hotel on the south-west corner of Cecil and Market streets, on the suburb border of Southbank.
 
The double-storey hotel will be sold later this year with vacant possession, meaning prospective hotel operators will have to compete with developers, who could propose a medium or high density apartment tower for the site. It is expected to sell for about $2 million.