Pub sales are the hot ticket with close to $200 million worth of pubs having changed hands in the past year, from the outer suburbs of metropolitan Sydney to the inner fringe and parts of the city.
One of the latest was the Terminus at Pyrmont, which has laid dormant for 30 years.
The new owner, a private developer, is now assessing the best way to bring it back to life.
It was sold for $5 million by Auswin TWT, who bought it a year ago from the private Wakil family. Auswin TWT will retain the 2300-square-metre carpark on the south-western side of the hotel where it plans to develop luxury residences.
Another deal was the Corrimal Hotel in Wollongong, which was sold for just under $10 million by long-term owners, the Denmeade family.
CBRE Hotels, in conjunction with Ray White Hotels, sold the property on behalf of the family who has owned the hotel for nearly 20 years.
The buyer was Peak Investments, a newly formed private equity consortium headed by ex-Citigroup banker, Damian Kelly. It signifies Peak Investments' second foray into the NSW gaming market following last year's purchase of the Rose and Crown Hotel in Parramatta.
CBRE Hotels national director, Daniel Dragicevich, said Sydney gaming assets are becoming very tightly held, which has led to what are traditionally metro purchasers looking further afield.
"The Corrimal Hotel has experienced a period of sustained growth following recent improvements and presented all the key ingredients for a continually successful operation, large retail site with car parking, solid business mix and in a high growth area."
Ray White director, Andrew Jolliffe, said the Illawarra region continues to be in high demand from experienced hoteliers and new funds alike and the Corrimal Hotel sale comes hot on the heels of the Conniston Hotel and Unanderra Hotel (to the Denmeade family), which both changed hands in the past 12 months highlighting "a continued confidence in the area".
Long-term owner Andrew Denmeade, who has retained both the Unanderra Hotel and 2013 AHA Hotel of the year, Central Hotel in Shellharbour, said the sale of the Corrimal Hotel represented the right time for our family to exit the asset, "which has proved a great hotel and investment for us over nearly the last two decades".
Mr Denmeade added that the sale did not represent in anyway an exit from the industry for the long-term hoteliers and in fact they would be looking to redeploy the capital, more than likely in the Illawarra area as soon as a suitable opportunity presented itself.
Amid the done deals, are the pending sales, including the Cargo Bar, Darling Harbour. The Keystone Group is the vendor through Mr Jolliffe and any new buyer has the option to keep the business as a going concern.
