Scape co-founders Craig Carracher and Stephen Gaitanos have sold an inner-city Sydney hotel, six years after acquiring it from the YWCA.

The five-storey Hotel Hacienda, at 179 Cleveland Street, Redfern, sold for $22 million, after a failed campaign two years ago.

The pair, as part of a consortium, paid $15.05m through Varsity Australia Investments Pty Ltd, which was backed by the Scape founders and several family investors.

The YWCA NSW had owned and operated the property as Song Hotel Redfern, one of two commercial hotels it used to generate profits for its charitable activities.

The organisation acquired the Redfern hotel in 2006 before transferring its assets and liabilities to YWCA Australia as part of a national restructure in 2018.

Hotel Hacienda

On 506 square metres at the corner of Elizabeth St, Hotel Hacienda contains 63 studio rooms, a two-bedroom apartment, a ground-floor restaurant and a rooftop terrace.

Also with 12 basement car parks, the gross floor area is 1800 sqm (continues below).

It has a 24-hour liquor licence.

Varsity spent about $2m refurbishing the property in 2021 including upgrades to furniture, fittings, equipment and building services.

It was listed in 2024 with mid-$20m price hopes.

That campaign highlighted alternative uses under its mixed-use zoning, including co-living, boarding houses, residential apartments and serviced apartments.

Adam Charles with Knight Frank were the marketing agencies.

The deal comes a year since Marty Short and Ben Shaw sold the Redfern Hotel after nine years and a renovation.

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The Oxford Tavern has changed hands again, with the Sweeney family taking ownership of the long-closed Petersham hotel following its sale through receivers.

Sweeney Pub Group, led by Mathew and Liam Sweeney, paid $4.62 million for the freehold at 1 New Canterbury Road.

The 734 sqm corner holding, at the corner Crystal Street, close to Petersham station, includes a bar, bistro and outdoor area, with a 3am liquor licence. There are also 10 electronic gambling machine entitlements.

Cameron Gray and Adam Shepard of HM Advisory were the seller, as receivers and managers.

HTL Property directors Sam Handy and Blake Edwards were the agents.

Previous ownership

The sale follows a complicated ownership and financing arrangement involving Sydney businessman John Ibrahim, financier Ben Madsen and hospitality interests associated with Jon Adgemis.

The Thirst Fund Holding Pty Ltd acquired it it for $7m in April 2024, with Oxtav Pty Ltd subsequently recorded as its owner.

Mr Ibrahim’s Thirst Fund Holding was involved in the financing arrangements.

In late 2025, the company commenced legal action against Mr Madsen and Oxtav over an alleged unpaid debt connected with the acquisition.

Thirst Fund Holding previously acquired the property from Oxford Property Holdings for $3.36m in August 2015.

Sweeney expansion

The Sweeney family has brought Angel Kennard into the ownership group as an equity partner (continues below).

Ms Kennard previously served as general manager of the group’s Salisbury and Narooma hotels.

“We’ve had some great success acquiring and improving hotels over the years, and following the sales of the Eveleigh and Narooma, we’re now focused on growing the group further,” Liam Sweeney said.

The group plans to restore the Oxford as a neighbourhood hotel.

The Sweeney Pub Group also owns Stanmore’s Salisbury Hotel.

Its previous investments include the Eveleigh Hotel in Redfern and Narooma Hotel on the NSW South Coast, both of which have been sold.

Redevelopment potential

The Oxford falls within the NSW Government’s Transport Oriented Development planning framework.

A six-storey development could be considered under existing controls, with an eight-level outcome potentially achievable.

The agents added the property attracted unsolicited approaches from developers interested in its redevelopment potential before the formal campaign.

Petersham is six kilometres south-west of the CBD.

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EXCLUSIVE

Elanor Investors Group, which recently rebranded to Kyron, has sold a Best Western in regional New South Wales.

On behalf of the Elanor Hotel Accommodation Fund, the manager banked $9.2 million for the freehold to the Best Western Sanctuary Inn at 293-299 Marius Street, Tamworth.

It paid $10m in 2022, part of a freehold going concern deal worth $16.45m.

According to its mid-year reporting, the freehold going concern sold this year for $15.9m net of selling costs (or $16.5m gross).

Trio of Tamworth deals

On 7410 square metres near the Tamworth train station, the Best Western Sanctuary Inn contains 60 rooms – from 31-55 sqm – a restaurant, bar, swimming pool and courtyard (continues below).

There are two conference rooms too.

There is also development upside over a large car park.

The buyer is registered as Bulcock SC Pty Ltd.

It is the third hotel to sell in the street recently following Jim Knox paying Daniel Whitten $3m for the freehold of the historic Tamworth Hotel at 147 Marius St.

The City Sider Motor Inn, at 233-237 Marius St, has also sold, for more than $9m.

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AirTrunk has secured $4.25 billion in green financing for its Western Sydney data centre campus, while Canberra-based CDC Data Centres has won conditional approval for a $203.5m in the ACT.

In Sydney, AirTrunk has sourced a green loan to complete its SYD3 campus at Eastern Creek (artist’s impression, top).

On 8.3 hectares it will contain 70,000 square metres of technical data hall space and 9600 sqm of office and storage area.

Construction is underway with completion expected by mid-2028.

The loan is backed by a consortium of 32 Australian and international financial institutions.

Blackstone-backed AirTrunk has five Australian campuses with more than 1.2 gigawatts of capacity.

The financing takes its globally committed debt funding to about $38.4 billion, including more than $19.8 billion across its Australian projects.

AirTrunk late last year announced plans for a $1b data centre campus, expected to be MEL2, in Melbourne’s Mickleham (continues below).

CDC approved in Canberra

In Canberra, CDC has secured conditional development approval for Beard 2, a three-storey data centre at 23 Tantalum Street, Beard.

The project will contain 29,924 square metres with 84 megawatts of capacity across 12 data halls.

.The approved scheme includes emergency generators with a combined capacity of up to 20MW and provision for a future 3830 sqm substation. It will also 23 car parks.

Beard 1 has 10 data halls and 39MW of capacity.

In September, CDC applied to build a $15 billion campus across 103.8 hectares at Gregadoo, south of Wagga Wagga, with four buildings and potential power demand of up to 1.4GW. It is also building a 504MW campus at Marsden Park in Sydney’s north-west.

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EXCLUSIVE

Sydney Metro has sold another surplus development site – this time beside Sydenham station, in the city’s inner-west.

An industrial strata project is planned for Lot 61, 11 Sydenham Road, Marrickville.

Norman Property Partners is the buyer.

Colliers’ Trent Gallagher and Michael Crombie were the agents.

The deal comes four months since realestatesource.com.au reported Sydney Metro banked $87m selling a North Sydney site to student accommodation giant Iglu.

That 3132 square metre site is approved for a mixed-use project with buildings of eight and 24 storeys.

Last year the state government arm banked a speculated $27m shedding a commercial zoned site beside Tallawong station

Strata project planned

The E4 General Industrial-zoned Marrickville site, also exposed to Garden Street, has a floor space ratio of 0.95:1 and no building height control.

It is beside Sydenham station near the Princes Highway, the M5 and M8 motorways, Sydney Airport and Port Botany (continues below).

The city is six kilometres away.

Sydney-based Norman Property Partners is an investment house and developer behind numerous industrial, logistics, self-storage and mixed-use projects across the state, the ACT and Victoria.

Current developments include the Enterprise Industrial Estate at Auburn and Mortdale, with warehouses and self-storage.

Completed projects include a 2.69ha estate at Chullora – a site acquired in 2018 from Charter Hall – and the Homebush Logistics Centre, spanning 2.56ha

They also contain industrial and self-storage.

One down

Lot 61, 11 Sydenham Rd was one of three sites around Sydenham station that Sydney Metro and the state government offered as a portfolio or individually.

The other parcels, Lots 71 and 72, off Sydney Steel Rd, span 2.48 hectares and 2563 square metres respectively.

Also zoned E4 Industrial with no height control, they are also being marketed by Mr Gallagher and Mr Crombie.

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Publican Jim Knox has bought the Tamworth Hotel from Sydney-based investor Daniel Whitten.

The freehold at 147 Marius Street cost $3 million in a deal settling in July.

Opposite Tamworth train station, the two-storey c1936 Art Deco property includes a bar, bistro and gaming room with seven electronic gambling machines,

On 3219 square metres there is also a beer garden, bar, stage and drive-through bottle shop with dual street access.

It has a 2am trading licence from Wednesday to Saturday.

Also this week we are reporting Elanor Investors Partners sold the freehold to the nearby Best Western Sanctuary Inn, held four years on behalf of the Elanor Hotel Accommodation Fund, for $9.2m.

The City Sider Motor Inn at 237 Marius St traded too, for more than $9m.

Diversified income

The upper level of the Tamworth Hotel contains 14 accommodation rooms with shared bathroom facilities and a manager’s residence (continues below).

The bathrooms were renovated in 2023.

It has also been soundproofed to support live music in the beer garden.

The hotel was marketed as a freehold going concern generating more than $115,000 a week revenue excluding GST across food, beverage, gaming, accommodation and bottle shop sales.

Parts of the block can be developed.

Mr Whitten paid $3.65m for the freehold in 2016. It was listed as part of a portfolio consolidation.

The publican retains the Robin Hood Hotel at Charing Cross in Sydney after an unsuccessful marketing campaign in 2023 when it was seeking over $60m.

JLL Hotels & Hospitality’s Greg Jeloudev, Kate MacDonald and Edward Browne marketed the Tamworth Hotel.

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Industrial property investor Pipeclay Lawson has paid $18.3 million for a west Sydney concrete plant leased back to construction chemicals maker Master Builders Solutions for 15 years.

The purchase of 11 Stanton Road, Seven Hills, reflects an initial yield of 5.68 per cent.

The 1.23 hectare site contains three older-style industrial buildings totalling 4077 square metres.

About two-thirds of the land uncovered.

MB Solutions Australia offered with a triple-net lease.

The site is about 1.3 kilometres south of the M2 Motorway and 32km from the CBD.

Previous sale

The property last traded in July 2020 for $8.1m.

BASF was that seller having previously occupied it for its construction-chemicals business which it also sold in 2020, to an affiliate of private equity firm Lone Star.

The operation was rebranded MBCC Group (continues below).

The property had previously sold in February 2011 to Australian Master Builders Company Pty Ltd for $4.35m.

MB Solutions Australia operates as a Master Builders Solutions brand.

Leaseback deal

Master Builders Solutions has used the Stanton Road address for its Australian construction-chemicals operations, including products for concrete admixtures, repair and protection, and infrastructure applications.

The acquisition follows a period of disposals by Pipeclay Lawson, which sold four industrial properties to Hines in 2022 for $211.5m.

In Chullora, South Granville and Emu Plains in Sydney, and Pinkenba in Brisbane, that sale marked Hines’ entry into Australian industrial sector.

Pipeclay Lawson has also sold industrial assets to Centennial, including a 2.1ha property at 141A Boundary Rd, Oxley, for $15.425m in 2021.

CBRE agents John Micallef, Jason Edge and Moshe Greengarten marketed 11 Stanton Rd.

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Singapore-listed Wee Hur Holdings has secured an unconditional option to acquire an unusual Sydney development site – a deal we mooted in May.

A 12-level student accommodation building is planned for the row of 18 townhouses spanning 35-51 Nicholson Street, Wollstonecraft.

The developer is proposing 471 beds in 447 rooms, according to the permit application.

Near Crows Nest Metro station, the facility would be operated through Wee Hur’s Y Suites brand.

Wee Hur’s Intergen Property Group will develop it.

It will be held through a special purpose vehicle with external capital partners.

Townhouses to tower

Wee Hur is speculated to have paid more than $50 million for the property in an unusual deal that saw neighbours unite to create a larger site capable of accommodating a high-density building, capitalising on recently introduced Transport Oriented Development planning controls

The company confirmed the unconditional option in a Singapore Exchange announcement.

Settlement is scheduled in the second half of next year subject to exercise of an option and completion in accordance with terms,

JLL agents Dylan McEvoy and Gordon McFadyen were the agents (continues below).

Five other co-living groups contested, they said.

Metro proximity

The site is about a three-minute walk to Crows Nest Metro station, within the Crows Nest Transport Oriented Development Accelerated Precinct.

The proposed building will comprise studios, ensuite rooms and two-bedroom apartments, alongside communal indoor and outdoor spaces.

The project adds to Wee Hur’s Australian student accommodation pipeline following it and GIC selling a seven-property portfolio to Greystar last year.

As part of that deal, Wee Hur and GIC hold a 13pc interest in the entity that now holds them via the GS Australia Student Venture I Mid Trust.

Wee Hur’s Australian platform includes, in Sydney, the operational 409-bed Y Suites on Margaret in Sydney.

A 708-bed development, Y Suites on Frome, is also under construction, in Adelaide.

Completion of that tower is expected at the end of next year.

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Homes NSW is advancing plans to redevelop four vacant sites across Haberfield and Ashfield, including land left over from construction of Sydney’s WestConnex motorway, which it sits over.

The proposal comprises 338 dwellings across four buildings, including 111 social and affordable homes and a 227-room co-living building (artist’s impression, top).

All up spanning 1.42 hectares, the sites are spread around Parramatta Road, Alt and Bland streets, opposite Woolworths in North Ashfield and close to schools, shops and public transport.

The land was previously used for WestConnex project offices and related construction works.

Height, weight limited

The M4 East motorway tunnels run through this part of the inner west limiting the height and weight of projects.

Homes NSW is proposing buildings ranging from three to seven storeys, with parking, bicycle facilities, landscaped areas and shared spaces.

Some community and other non-residential uses are also proposed along the Parramatta Rd frontage (continues below).

The development is part of the NSW Government’s $6.6 billion Building Homes for NSW program, which includes the redevelopment of surplus government land for housing.

The proposal remains subject to planning assessment.

Homes NSW plans to lodge a State Significant Development Application by December 2026.

The project follows a broader push to redevelop former WestConnex sites for housing, including other government-owned land along the motorway corridor.

The government said the sites were identified through a statewide audit of surplus land and selected for their proximity to transport, schools, shops and other services.

The sites are about eight kilometres west of the CBD.

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Centennial and Direct Commercial Property have paid $22 million for a major Northern Rivers industrial site.

An 18-lot subdivision is planned for the 8.3 hectare block, 45-65 Smith Drive, West Ballina.

The end value of the completed estate, branded the Gateway Business Hub, should circle $70m.

It previously marketed with development approval for a bulky-goods project comprising four buildings with a combined gross floor area of 29,289 square metres.

JLL’s Sebastian Fahey, David Mahood and Dylan McEvoy with North Coast Commercial Real Estate’s Chris Harley were the agents. The site was marketed as The Interchange.

Showroom to industrial

Also exposed to the Pacific Highway, near the Teven Road interchange, the E4 General Industrial zoned property is 4.5 kilometres from Ballina’s town centre and 7.5km from Ballina Byron Gateway Airport.

The proposed estate will be delivered in two stages, with serviced, benched lots ranging from 1500 sqm to 1.5ha.

Stage one is targeted for completion in the third quarter of 2027 (continues below).

Centennial chief investment officer David Cupit said demand for serviced industrial land in the region was competitive.

The deal comes a year since Ballina Shire Council sold nine lots, including a 4492 sqm parcel that reportedly fetched $5.8m or about $1291 per sqm.

Centennial, DCP partner

DCP will oversee asset management and work with the partner and appointed agents on the subdivision’s positioning and sales.

The site is near established industrial occupiers including FedEx, Team Global Express, G. James and InfraBuild, with access to the Pacific and Bruxner highways linking Ballina with Brisbane, the wider Northern Rivers and inland freight routes.

The proposed subdivision’s delivery will depend on the completion of infrastructure and works needed to service the individual lots.

Ballina is about 30 kilometres south of Byron Bay and 110 south of Surfers Paradise.

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