Nelson Meers Group buys another west Sydney pub
Seven months after buying Casula’s Crossroads Hotel for nearly $160 million – an Australian record pub price – Nelson Meers Group has picked up the New Victoria Tavern, 14 kilometres away.
The Wetherill Park freehold going concern is costing over $50 million, according to sources.
The asset includes a medical centre leased to ASX-listed Healius which, longer term, could be incorporated as hospitality space.
Taphouse Group was the seller; it recently also offloaded Port Macquarie’s Port Macquarie Hotel and Tacking Point Tavern, the latter to the Laundy and Flower families.
HTL Property’s Dan Dragicevich and Andrew Jolliffe were the agents.
New 4am licence should improve rank
In Fairfield, the country’s best performing council area for electronic gambling machine profits, the New Victoria Tavern is rated by the state government as a Top 100 gaming venue, just – at #91 at the time of listing last year.
There is room for improvement given other assets in the LGA rank 1 (the Crossroads Hotel), 12, 14, 23, 27,38, 58 and 60.
Also with a modern bar and bistro, the property is 650 metres from the Smithfield-Wetherill Park industrial area which employs over 14,000 people across 3000 businesses, Mr Jolliffe added.
“In the circumstances regarding the sale…the barriers protecting asset replication by would-be competitors are on any fair measure insurmountable, even before taking into consideration the recent development consent to trade to 4am” according to the executive (story continues below).
Taphouse is a subsidiary of Salmat Group, established in 1979 by Peter Mattick and the late Phil Salter.
NMG flexes muscle
NMG was established by ex-Sydney lord mayor Nelson Meers but is nowadays run by his son, Simon.
Its portfolio contains over a dozen Sydney assets including the Ashfield Hotel, Ermington Hotel and Guildford Hotel.
In 2017, it outlaid $50m for the Belmore Hotel and a little less than that ($45m) for the Hurstville Ritz.
Wetherill Park is 34 kilometres west of town.
“Having sold two large format hotels for…Taphouse Group already this year, we’re very pleased to continue prosecuting the privately owned group’s strategic divestment strategy with the sale of this significant Sydney property,” Mr Dragicevich said.
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