W Property snaps up Old Fitzroy Hotel
The Pasfield family has sold Woolloomooloo’s Old Fitzroy Hotel after 20 years.
The purchaser is W Property, directed by Michael and Prue Williams.
HTL Property brokered the $6.85 million deal for 129-131 Dowling Street a month after it was listed.
Over three levels, it is configured with a theatre, run by Andrew Henry’s Red Line Productions since 1997, and hotel.
Ms Williams is the founder of a film production company – and is on the Old Fitzroy Hotel’s advisory committee.
The landlords now plan to rent out the pub after an update.
They will also lock in a long-term lease with Red Line.
“This acquisition is a real marriage of our two strongest passions – old buildings and the arts,” Mr Williams said.
“We’re really excited about working with a new operator for the [hotel], and also with Andrew Henry in order to inject some new life into the pub and theatre at the same time as preserving its obvious character and local appeal”.
The property is less than a kilometre east of Hyde Park (story continues below).
Deal ends speculation site will sell to developers: agent
HTL selling agents Sam Handy and Blake Edwards said the Old Fitzroy Hotel deal ends “weeks of speculation that the iconic hotel and theatre would be closed and sold off to residential developers”.
“The sale of the inner-city institution…has drawn widespread attention as well as vocal interest from locals wanting to see the hotel and theatre continue in its current operating format,” the brokers added.
“Quite clearly the Old Fitzroy Hotel has some excellent underlying redevelopment fundamentals, an was of interest to several alternative suitors,” according to Mr Handy.
“However in my view some hotels are simply just too important to the local fabric of the community to make wholesale changes to, and I think this is true in [this] case”.
The vendors said they are nostalgic about the disposal.
“We leave the Old Fitzroy with a heavy heart as it has been our home for the last 20 years,” Mr Pasfield said.
“Olga and I have a lot of very special memories attached to this place but are nonetheless excited to pass the torch onto Michael and Prue who we know will be more than worthy custodians”.
