Capital gain

Popular watering hole Jacksons on George has returned to the hands of its former owners, the Gallagher family, who swooped on the leasehold for about $20 million.

Often considered a city institution, and known for its sticky carpets, the pub was one of Sydney’s few late-night venues. Near Circular Quay in George Street, it first opened in 1905 as the Blue Anchor Hotel before changing its name in 1933 to the Port Jackson Hotel.

It was demolished then rebuilt and rebranded Jacksons in 1986 when the Gallaghers, led by Patrick and Angela, took over the lease. In 2018 as part of Lendlease’s Sydney Place redevelopment, the pub was again torn down. Its freehold is owned by Lendlease.

Jacksons was rebuilt during the global pandemic, when most pubs were closed, and re-opened in 2023 amid much fanfare after DTL Entertainment, a private syndicate led by hotelier Michael Broome and three hospitality specialist partners including Maurice Terzini, took over the lease.

JLL hotels’ Kate MacDonald and Ben McDonald advised DTL Entertainment on the sale.

Roche family

Meanwhile, the rich lister Roche family are selling the Railway Hotel in Armidale in regional NSW, having paid $6 million for it in 2021.

Sitting on a sprawling 3819-square-metre site, the late Victorian two-storey pub has an additional 800 sq m of land that has approval to development a 16-room motel.

DB Pubs, run by Dom Roche for the family’s hotel business, is selling the property to focus on its core assets closer to their hospitality operation’s headquarters in the Hunter Valley.

HTL Property’s Xavier Plunkett, Ben Kennedy, and Andrew Jolliffe are advising on the sale.

And in North Sydney, the leasehold of the Billy Barry’s Hotel is for sale. It has 12.5 years remaining on the lease and generates about $7 million in annual revenue across bar, gaming and the bistro. The current rent is $507,000 excluding GST.

It is being sold through HTL Property’s Blake Edwards and Sam Handy.

Porsche hire

Lendlease is powering up residents in its upmarket $4 billion One Sydney Harbour waterfront towers at Barangaroo, allowing them to hire Porsche electric vehicles on the premises.

Under the plan, occupants will be able to hire Porsche’s new fleet of EVs, including the Macan and Taycan models.

The arrangement is the second collaboration between Lendlease and Outbound. The transportation solutions provider negotiated a 2023 deal to offer Tesla EV hire to tenants in Lendlease’s nearby commercial building, Salesforce Tower.

Barangaroo residents – who pay $1.68 million for one-bedroom and up to $5.3 million for three-bedroom apartments – will be able to reserve, pay and access support on Outbound’s app, and even lock, unlock and drive the vehicles via their phones.

The new car-share service is just part of the luxe offerings available at One Sydney. Others include a 24-hour concierge service, state-of-the-art wellness facilities, indoor and outdoor pools, a private dining room, wine gallery, and residents’ lounge.

One Sydney Harbour is one of Lendlease’s major residential developments, designed by architect Renzo Piano. It is now 95 per cent sold by value, with more than $4 billion in sales across three towers.

Charlie’s chicken

A private owner has sold 16 Railway Avenue, Wahroonga, leased to Chargrill Charlie’s chicken franchise, under the hammer at auction for a record land rate of $52,000 per sq m, or $7.89 million in total.

The 279 sq m building on 150 sq m of land sits in the heart of the Wahroonga Village. Shead Property’s Bill Geroulis, Ivor Zhou and Linus Lifson negotiated the record-breaking sale.

Burgess Rawson’s latest portfolio auction event also delivered strong results with $20.6 million in sales, taking the total to $58.34 million. Shaun Venables said enquiry is back to what they were experiencing a year ago and registrations levels significantly higher.

The Sydney portfolio auction event delivered strong results with a total of $37.74 million in sales, reaffirming investor confidence in high-quality commercial assets. Yosh Mendis said of the 12 properties in Sydney, nine sold on the day to a variety of small to medium private investors.

Demand for convenience retail assets continues, with the biggest price on the day, $8.18 million for an Ampol outlet in North Narrabeen, reflecting a 5.51 per cent yield.

Early learning assets also attracted strong interest. Young Academics in Seven Hills sold for $5.86 million on a 4.44 per cent yield, Little Kindy in Walcha, NSW, went for $2.19 million on a 5.19 per cent yield, and Discover & Learn Academy, Tanilba Bay sold for $4.8 million, a 6.16 per cent yield.

IGA Supermarket in North Sydney sold under the hammer for $2.9 million.

Sydney Morning Herald