Nearly seven months after it was listed for sale with an eye-watering asking price of $175 million, the sprawling Oaks Hotel on Military Road in Sydney’s Neutral Bay has been sold to a local Mosman family.
General manager Andrew Thomas, whose father David purchased the leasehold to the well-known watering hole for $250,000 in 1975 and then later the freehold in 1990 for $12 million, said his family would hand over the keys to the new owners in about 2½ weeks.
The Oaks Hotel in Neutral Bay had price expectations of more than $175 million.
“It’s gone to a local family in the area. I’ve not met them physically,” Mr Thomas told The Australian Financial Review.
When asked about the price, Mr Thomas said it was well above the $120 million figure being circulated in the industry.
“It’s not far away from the advertised price. Both parties are very happy with the deal,” he said.
The Thomas family put The Oaks Hotel up for sale in August at a price that would have set a national record for a pub deal.
Owner Andrew Thomas inside one of the bars in The Oaks Hotel. Louie Douvis
The exact price paid, and the identity of the buyer remain a mystery, but further details should emerge when the deal settles next month.
A number of industry sources suggested the buyers had ties to the film industry.
Selling agent John Musca and Ben McDonald from JLL confirmed the hotel had sold, but said they could not comment due to a strict confidentiality agreement.
The record price paid for a pub in Australia was the near-$160 million sale of the Crossroads Hotel in Casula last year to former Sydney lord mayor Nelson Meers.
The sale of The Oaks comes amid record levels of deal activity in the pub sector, as investors and publicans chase the cash flow-generating assets, which are considered a good hedge against inflation and a recession.
Last year, $2.2 billion of pubs changed hands, while the first two months of this year have already yielded a number of notable deals, including the Laundy family paying about $150 million to acquire full ownership of five trophy pubs.
Standing on a 2188-square-metre corner site at 118 Military Road in affluent Neutral Bay on Sydney’s lower north shore, The Oaks dates back to 1938, when it was built by brewing company Tooth & Co. The first hotel on the site opened in 1880.
Its popular garden lounge opened in the late 1950s after being designed by architects Morrow and Gordon.
The Oak was extensively renovated in 2019 by the Thomas family.
Mr Thomas said it would be both a happy and a sad time for the family to part ways with The Oaks.
But having worked their “backsides off” the family was looking forward to enjoying a drink on the other side of the bar.
“We’ve never had a drink here, ever,” Mr Thomas said.
The huge venue includes Taffy’s Sports Bar, Alala’s Cocktail Bar, Bar and Grill Restaurant, the beer garden, a gaming room with 30 poker machines, extensive first-floor function spaces and a bottle shop.
The John Meillon OBE Bar, named after the late Crocodile Dundee character actor, has been popular for years with famous identities and sports stars.
Justin Hemmes visiting The Oaks last September. Louie Douvis
There’s also development potential with the site’s mixed-use zoning and favourable planning guidelines allowing for a development of up to five storeys.
The hotel attracted interest from Merivale boss and Rich Lister Justin Hemmes, who The Australian Financial Review bumped into while he was inspecting the property in September.
However, many considered the $175 million asking price extravagant, even for The Oaks, which was offered fully renovated.
Know more about this deal? Send an email to property@afr.com
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