Grand Hotel Bundaberg Comes to Market

The Grand Hotel Bundaberg in the Queensland sugar city’s CBD is up for sale amid growing interest in hotels after a bumper year in 2022.

The 138-year-old watering hole is listed for sale by the mortgagee in possession. The freehold going concern interest was sold for about $4 million last year by the mortgagee, High Country Pastoral Pty Ltd.

CBRE Hotel’s Paul Fraser and Power Jeffrey & Co’s Andy Nason have been appointed to manage the sale via an expression of interest campaign closing on April 12.

There are seven retail tenancies on the ground floor over 534sq m of space, and a 27-room backpacker-style accommodation offering 90 beds on the first floor.

The hotel was built in 1885 and underwent a major $1 million refurbishment in 2021.

Markets in Bundaberg, like many in Queensland outside the south-east corner, have managed to stay relatively robust. 

As a “key regional hub”, Bundaberg has a gross regional product of more than $4.5 billion and a population that is set to quickly grow past 100,000.

“We expect this campaign to generate interest from traditional hospitality operators, developers and long-term passive investors,” Fraser said.

“The Grand Hotel provides an incoming buyer with the option to either operate the pub and backpackers as a going concern or to have leases put in place in addition to the vacant retail tenancies, essentially becoming a passive investment.” 

The sale comes following the news last week that Australian hotel sales had hit $2.14 billion in 2022, the second highest transaction volume on record. 

Last year, a record number of 53 transactions were valued at over $10 million, 39 per cent above the 10-year average.