Rising Pub Baron Picks Up Cliffside Hotel at the ‘Gong

Rising pub baron Glenn Piper has added a trophy asset to his expanding portfolio, paying $9.5 million for a NSW pub that hasnGlenn Piper Picks Up Another Coastal Pub for Portfoliot changed hands in four decades.

Piper, the chief executive of new player Epochal Hotels, bought the landmark Scarborough Hotel from Bruce Gordon’s WIN Corporation.

The 138-year-old pub sits on more than 3900sq m of oceanfront land along the Illawarra cliff and is the oldest licensed venue in Wollongong proper.

Piper told media he is keen to run the venue as a pub.

“This is a deeply meaningful project for us; we want to deliver something truly special here, an experience that befits its spectacular location, reflects the pub’s stature and resonates deeply with the community,” Piper said.

WIN Corporation chief executive Andrew Lancaster said that while owning the pub was interesting, the company wanted to focus on its media and investment businesses.

“Pubs are not part of our core business and it is time for a new owner to guide this iconic site into the future,” Lancaster said.

▲ Glenn Piper has paid $9.5 million for the cliffside Scarborough Hotel at Wollongong as he continues to build his pub portfolio.

Epochal Hotels was set up in 2019—Piper has made his way along the east coast collecting assets for his portfolio since then. 

The first was the Harbord Hotel at Freshwater,  17km north-east of the Sydney CBD, with an extensive renovation then under taken.

It has a terrace and a main bar with more work under way on a second level that will include a recording studio.

Newcastle’s Merewether Beach Hotel was also restored by Epochal Hotels post-purchase and a a seaside restaurant and retro takeaway area among changes.

The company acquired the Commodore Hotel at McMahons Point, 3km north of Sydney’s centre in May, 2023.

Other assets include the Q Station on Sydney’s Northern Beaches headland and Hook Island in the Whitsundays in Queensland.

Piper spent $100 million buying venues in 2022 but made just one pub purchase last year, saying he was only interested in unique venues with a history and that can be renovated.

▲ The Scarborough Hotel had not been sold for four decades.

“As a team, we’re fueled by the desire to build on or revive local pride in places we genuinely believe are incomparable,” Piper said

For each purchase, Piper has partnered with a syndicate of investors, incuding the most recent aquisition in the Illawarra.

In 2022, pub deals nationally were valued at a total of $3 billion. In 2023 it dropped to $1.45 billion. 

WIN Corporation billionaire Bruce Gordon exchanged contracts with Piper in June last year.

Gordon last month picked up $70 million for the WIN Grand development site in the centre of Wollongong.

It was acquired by developer and construction firm Level 33 on the understanding it will continue with the vision of the owner of the country’s largest regional television network.

The Scarborough Hotel sale was handled by Colliers’ Simon Kersten and Taleah Thomas.