Queensland publican Jaz Mooney of Middle Head Ventures has sold the Normanby Hotel to locally based Ingham-Myers Hotels for $15 million.  

The multi-level, heritage-listed building was built in 1890 and occupied a 4,162 sqm site, offering 35 gaming machine authorities, multiple bars, restaurants, a beer garden, and functions areas.   

Ingham-Myers Hotels was looking to reposition the pub to re-establish the Normanby as a market-leading venue.   

“I am happy to see the Normanby Hotel be retained by safe hands and I look forward to seeing what the new owners do with this iconic Brisbane pub,” Mooney said. 

CBRE’s Paul Fraser brokered the sale via an expressions of interest campaign.  

“The opportunity to acquire an iconic, inner-Brisbane hotel with strong value-add and future redevelopment potential is scarce, and the interest and enquiry we had throughout the campaign process was evidence of this,” Fraser said.  

“With the substantial $2.1 billion Brisbane Live development including an 18,000-seat stadium above the new Roma Street Cross River Rail Station, the area is set for a period of prolonged infrastructure stimulation and economic growth.”  

The most recent gaming authority tender, which was the debut auction for the year-long trial where taxation was reduced from 33% to 15%, saw authorities in Queensland’s South East region sell for a record average price of $374,471 per authority.  

There was also an increase in liquidation in the market with 39 authorities trading, the most since 2019. 

Fraser said we were currently in the midst of a gaming boom in South East Queensland with respect to both revenue generation and the value of gaming machine authorities.  

“This has underpinned the tightly held nature of inner-city assets with gaming pubs becoming even more coveted as strategic investments,” Fraser said.   

“With the value of gaming showing continual growth, Brisbane’s elevated infrastructure pipeline, and the 2032 Brisbane Olympics on the horizon, the trading outlook for pubs is strong and we expect investor sentiment for these assets to remain robust through 2023.”  

Recent pub deals include Rod Salmon’s sale of the Rydalmere Tavern in Sydney’s west and move into the Chelsea Hotel in Chatswood in a combined deal worth about $100 million last month.  

In November, the Anderson and Short families sold the multi-level Tudor Hotel in Redfern, Sydney for what it was speculated to be around $17 million.