In booming North Sydney, Firehouse Hotel up for grabs for $30m

The owner of one of North Sydney’s best-known pubs is looking to move on and the hotel boom could deliver a lucrative last round.

Publican Mark Barry has put the Firehouse Hotel in North Sydney up for sale.

The frothy pub market has prompted publican Mark Barry to put North Sydney’s Firehouse Hotel on the block, with hopes of selling for more than $30m.

A sale would bring to an end a near 25-year stint owning the pub that began with its conversion from a heritage-listed fire station into a favoured watering hole as the area was transformed by new skyscrapers.

The sale is being managed by Andrew Jolliffe and Dan Dragicevich of HTL Property, who have also been selling pubs that lenders have taken from Jon Adgemis’s Public Hospitality empire.

It will be the first public sale of a North Sydney CBD freehold hotel asset in more than 40 years, after a series of off-market deals have been struck on Sydney’s Lower North Shore.

Two years ago, hotelier Glenn Piper paid $29m to buy the popular Commodore pub at McMahons Point, and this year The Good Beer Group sold The Union Hotel in North ­Sydney to Ashton Waugh’s ­Watering Hole Hotels for $22m.

The Firehouse Hotel is best known for its ornate facade but also sports pristine interiors and an expansive first-floor outdoor terrace. “This legendary building commenced its life pouring water from fire hoses in 1895, and now pours beer out of its 30 beer taps over 140 years later,” Mr Jolliffe said.

The Firehouse boasts an ornate facade featuring the old fire station fronting.

“Few hotels demonstrate such a thoughtful and comprehensive approach to design, presentation and customer experience – accordingly, the Firehouse Hotel enjoys a deserved reputation as one of the best in its class Australia-wide.”

The popular venue is billed as a genuine turnkey opportunity within one of Sydney’s fastest-growing commercial and residential precincts.

“The remarkable revitalisation of North Sydney – highlighted by the recent opening of the Victoria Cross Metro rail station – has catalysed significant growth in both corporate and residential populations within the harbourside suburb,” Mr Dragicevich said.

The Firehouse Hotel has 28 electronic gaming machines and an under-utilised 3am trading licence. The pub sits in the middle of North Sydney’s transformation zone, adjacent to landmark developments including the award-winning 88 Walker tower, which cantilevers over the hotel and houses the 252-room Citadines Hotel.

Nine Entertainment Co’s headquarters at 1 Denison Street and the 35-storey Dexus tower at 100 Mount Street are nearby.

HTL Property separately sold the Fire Station Hotel in Newcastle for less than $10m to the Murphy brothers, a family who own and run other pubs in the area.

Set atop a large commercial land holding and enjoying considerable weekly revenue inputs, the Wallsend hospitality mainstay was sold by HTL’s Blake Edwards.

“Following the recent Reserve Bank-generated interest rate cut, and the expectation of more to follow before the end of the year, an amalgam of buyer activity and optimism has surged, leading us to the considered view that transactions over the next six months will surpass those experienced in the corresponding period during the record year of 2022,” Mr Edwards said.

Originally published as In booming North Sydney, Firehouse Hotel up for grabs for $30m