Bill Young buys hotel in Sydney growth zone
Former Wallabies player Bill Young has bought a hotel with a pocket of Sydney undergoing significant densification.
The freehold going concern for the c1928 Epping Hotel at 58 Beecroft Rd hotel was offered by Lyon Group after eight years.
In 1350 square metres opposite Epping Station, zoned E1 Local Centre it can accommodate a 72-metre tall building with a 6:1 floor space ratio.
The hotel has a 3am trading approval and a bar, bistro, bottle-shop and gaming room with TAB operation and 27 electronic gambling machines.
The business was generating over $234,000 average weekly revenue when offered for sale mid-year.
Gaming turnover increased 15.5pc on its historical monthly average following refurbishment of the gaming room in March.
There is also underutilised space on the lower first floor.
JLL Hotels & Hospitality Group’s Ben McDonald and Gus Moors acted for John Lyon, director of Lyon Group.
Epping is about 22 kilometres north-west of Sydney’s CBD.
The deal comes nearly two years since Mr Lyon acquired the Hotel Australasia in Eden for $4.1m from receivers of failed pub investor Virtical (continues below).
Precinct undergoing densification
The Beecroft Rd site neighbours the Epping Transport Oriented Development zone.
The station is the 18th busiest in NSW, with about 8.78 million passengers a year.
Epping is forecast to record population growth of about 31pc over the next decade; the suburb is undergoing a densification cycle with older housing and commercial buildings progressively replaced by high-density residential.
Mr Young said the hotel was one of the most strategically positioned hotel assets in metropolitan Sydney, citing its transport links, growing catchment and existing trading platform.
The executive’s Young Hotels’ Sydney portfolio includes the Concord Hotel, Royal Hotel Ryde, Five Dock Hotel, Illinois Hotel, Palace Hotel in Mortlake and Bar Broadway in Chippendale.
Last year he paid $50m for Griffith’s Gem Hotel, his seventh pub at the time.
In 2022, the sold Wisemans Inn Hotel to Sam Arnaout’s Iris Capital.
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