Historic Potts Point Hotel on Market for $35m

More than 70 private owners of the Potts Point Central Apartment Hotel have banded together to list the historic Art Deco brick building. 

The strata-titled hotel at 15 Springfield Avenue is being sold in-one-line with vacant possession and is expected to fetch about $35 million. 

The former Bernly Private Hotel was built in 1937 by F. J. Berne and during World War II became the Bernly American Red Cross Officer’s Club. 

In 1979 it was known as The Manzil Room, an iconic Kings Cross rock music venue that hosted hundreds of gig by such acts as the Hoodoo Gurus, Paul Kelly and Pseudo Echo. 

The four-star hotel comprises 70 serviced apartments, averaging 23sq m, a ground floor food and beverage outlet and a rooftop public amenity with views of Sydney’s CBD.

CBRE Hotels’ Tom Gibson and CBRE Capital Markets’ Harry George and Angus Windred are managing the sale via an expression-of-interest campaign.

“This is an opportunity to acquire a strategic foothold in Sydney—one of Asia Pacific’s most sought-after and tightly held hotel investment markets,” Gibson said.

“Given that the hotel is offered with vacant possession, the incoming purchaser is afforded the flexibility of either partnering with one of the leading hotel managers that have expressed interest to operate it, or to alternatively run the hotel under their own positioning.

“Sydney has welcomed multiple iconic boutique hotels in recent years, and with a thoughtful renovation Sydney Potts Point Central Apartment Hotel has the ability to establish itself as a leading boutique hotel with its excellent connectivity to the Sydney CBD and surrounding demand drivers.”

CBRE Capital Markets’ Harry George said the hotel could also be positioned as luxury residences with a 30 per cent rental growth forecast in the area in the next five years. 

CBRE’s Capital Markets team has been a leader in strata amalgamations within the Sydney CBD and city fringe. 

The team has amalgamated about 150 strata lots across five buildings in the past two years, including 104-118 Clarence Street, which forms part of Justin Hemmes’ Merivale development site.