Southeast Qld’s suburban pubs rich list: Who owns your watering hole
From philanthropists to self-made millionaires, meet the families behind some of the best-known local watering holes. See the list.
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Corporate giants and large groups now run about 70 per cent of Brisbane hotels.
Melbourne-based Australian Leisure and Hospitality (ALH) Group and Australian Venue Co dominate the local scene, but some well-known, multi-generational hotel families and some Queensland newcomers are still very much in the mix.
While people such as Stanthorpe publicans Michael Yates (Central Hotel) and Coralie Wilson (O’Mara’s) are typical of those who run pubs in rural areas of the southeast, a whole new breed of bar and craft beer barons has emerged in recent years.
They include people such as Cameron Lee, owner of Milton’s Warehouse 25, whose venue is as much function space, courtyard, pizzeria and distillery, as it is a bottle shop.
Many of the family-operated pubs or syndicates fly below the radar, Burgess Rawson agent Glen Conridge said.
He has sold six hotels (freehold) in the past six months on the back of ALE Property Group’s auction of some of its Brisbane assets in March.
While five of the six leases went to ALH, a private Queensland syndicate bought the freehold of the Edinburgh Castle in Brisbane’s inner north for $7.5 million.
And a private Queensland investor bought the Sunshine Coast’s Pelican Waters Tavern for $10.5 million, $3 million over the reserve price.
Mr Conridge also sold the freehold of the beloved Royal Exchange in Toowong last month for $14 million to an undisclosed Gold Coast family syndicate.
Endeavour Group has lease options over the RE until the year 2068.
Paul Fraser, from CBRE, said the past year featured the lowest number of transactions since the GFC and the market was only just picking up in Queensland, due to interstate pub owners trying to diversify.
“They have had zero cash flow because they’ve been locked down,’’ he said.
“Queensland’s lockdowns have been snap ones and pub operators have been able to recover fairly quickly.’’
He said the pub scene was one where there had been “continual consolidation’’ and that was unlikely to end.
Delaware North also sold the Aspley and Shaftson hotel to Redcape earlier this year.
Here are just some of our “mum-and-dad’’ pub, bar and brewery owners.
MARY-ANNE, CLIVE JOHNSON
The queen and king of the Ipswich pub scene own the best pub in Queensland, the Prince Alfred Hotel.
After pouring millions into the PA, they and their staff took out the Queensland Hotels Association best hotel and best redevelopment (up to $2 million) gongs.
The PA is one of the oldest pubs in the state and possibly holds the oldest continuous liquor licence in Queensland.
Built in 1860, the pub has undergone many changes, including after 1987 when the Johnsons took over.
They opened Charr’d Restaurant in 2012 and the Tapp’d Bar — a dedicated craft beer bar with 72 taps — in late 2015.
“We have a lot of faith in Ipswich and think we deserve to have really nice things here,” Mr Johnson said.
ROBERT, DAVID, PAUL COMISKEY
Most people do a massive double take the first time they drive past the Eatons Hill Hotel on South Pine Road, just north of Brisbane.
Comiskey group directors Rob, his brother David and dad Paul have not just built a pub, it is a self-contained $40 million retail and hospitality “city’’ with 4.5 star hotel, supermarket, bottle shop and more.
And that’s far from all.
After a lengthy court dispute they are looking forward to their latest venture, a new hotel and cellar door at Doonan in the Noosa hinterland.
Sunshine Coast businessmen and hotel owners Joshua Jones and Neville Allen, long-time friends of the Comiskeys, joined the group as business partners for the venture which has been a decade in the planning.
The family-owned company is also the mastermind behind the Sandstone Point Hotel at Bribie Island, famous for its New Year’s fireworks and mega concert events.
Rob Comiskey is a second generation publican, architect and developer and over the years has injected at least $200 million in the greater Brisbane area.
David is an engineer and Paul is a builder, making for a formidable team.
The Eatons Hill Hotel has won a swag of awards including best hotel and best beer garden in Australia, and best hotel in Queensland — twice in a row.
The Comiskeys also own Beachmere Tavern and other land holdings and real estate developments.
ALBERT HAKFOORT
The Tingalpa Hotel owner and Hakfoort Family Group CEO has come a long way from his days growing up in Mount Isa.
After graduating from Churchie, he steadily built up a big reputation in hotels.
By 2011 he had four Toowoomba hotels and two other Queensland pubs, level with Brisbane’s private AT Hotel group which at the time owned the International Hotel in Spring Hill and the Stafford Tavern.
The Toowoomba holdings at one time included the Stock Exchange, which the family company sold in 2017.
The sale then left the company with three hotels in Toowoomba, the Burke and Wills in the CBD, the Newtown Hotel and the Gowrie Road Hotel.
Mr Harkfoot, who now owns pubs in Bowen, Toowoomba and Woolloongabba, recently was crowned Queensland’s chicken schnitzel king.
Travel website Wotif.com named his schnitzels, made exactly the same in all six of his venues, the best in the state and seventh best in Australia.
Mr Hakfoort said he wasn’t even aware the pub was nominated until he saw it featured on Channel 9s Today Show.
CONIAS FAMILY
The family, including estate agent turned property investor Spero, bought the “Trans’’ — Brisbane’s Transcontinental, from NSW pub barons the Murphys in 2008 for $11 million.
They also own Brisbane’s Embassy Hotel and over the years have acquired several commercial buildings in the CBD, suburban shopping centres and Spiros bottle shops.
The family spend about $500,000 renovating the heritage-listed Trans, which was built in 1888.
Mr Conias, who once described himself as a “publican by default”, nevertheless developed a reputation as a hotel flipper extraordinaire and was an early adopter of craft beers, building a craft beer section within the Trans.
MARK HOWES
The Newstead Brewing Co CEO set up the popular brewery and restaurant in 2013 with Michael Conrad (who left in 2019) and has never looked back.
As well as operations in Newstead it set up in Milton, a stone’s throw from giant XXXX, in a cheeky but highly successful sit-down venture.
It announced in March that it would open another outlet at Brisbane Airport at the domestic terminal near Jetstar.
The partnership with Airport Retail Enterprise was supposed to open mid-last year but was delayed due to Covid.
Howes’ parents founded analytics and workforce planning software company Inform Business Impact in 1982. In 2010 the business was acquired by SuccessFactors for about $45 million.
Conrad once ran signature Brisbane restaurants Two Small Rooms, in 1989, and Restaurant Two, in 1999, during a 35-year career in hospitality.
JUSTIN HAM
Mr Ham is not just the owner of the iconic Waterloo Bay Hotel, he has transformed his beloved Wynnum in recent years with an amazing spread of commercial projects.
He has spent $74 million since 2013. The developments have helped spark a revitalisation period for the suburb.
The 39-year-old father-of-three most recently took on the Wynnum Cinema development.
Born and bred in Bulimba, he is the fourth generation to run the family accounting firm, Hambros, which later morphed into property ownership and other interests.
He bought the Waterloo, with another family, after spotting a sale sign while driving past.
He later added five new retail bottle shops and a second license at the Gumdale Tavern, bringing his total investment in the hotel to $25 million.
TOM MCGUIRE
The McGuire Group is one of Australia’s best known pub operators and currently owns The Paddo Tavern in Brisbane’s inner-west and the Alexandra Hills, Colmslie and Calamvale hotels, among other assets.
The McGuires are the operators of Queensland’s largest and one of its oldest family owned and run chain of hotels, beginning in the business in the early 1900s.
They are worth an estimated $185 million.
Director Tom McGuire has kept up the pace of acquisitions, branching out recently into fast-growing Yarrabilba.
The family recently broke ground on the construction of a new $16 million tavern in the masterplanned Logan community.
BRIAN, VINCE FITZGIBBONS, IMELDA MANN
The brothers, and their sister Imelda, bought The Glen Hotel at Eight Miles Plains in 1960 and also own the Osbourne in Fortitude Valley.
Another brother, Greg, has retired.
Their parents Michael and Lily Fitzgibbons bought their first Queensland hotel, The Kirabelle, in 1936.
They added The Southport Hotel, The Central Hotel in Toowoomba and The Daniell Hotel in the CBD.
Brian and his wife Elaine lived with their nine children at The Glen Hotel, once a compulsory pit stop on the way to the Gold Coast and a hub of dinner dances, cabarets and discos.
In 2014 they added five function rooms, multiple drinking and dining areas and a 44-room, 4.5-star $8 million hotel to The Glen.
Although he is wealthy enough to never have to get his hands dirty, Brian is very much a hands-on owner.
Lily restaurant, which he opened just before Christmas 2019 at The Glen, is the latest example.
The restaurant was named after his grandmother, who started the family business with husband Phons.
Last December the family were overwhelmed with the public response when they had to send almost all of their staff into home quarantine after a diner tested positive for Covid.
It was their busiest time of the year and they faced closing, but a social media appeal for replacement staff saw them flooded with offers of help.
JAMES POWER
The operator of the Norman Hotel at Woolloongabba, which famously calls itself Brisbane’s worst vegetarian restaurant (it’s known for its steaks), Power is the scion of another famous pub family.
His dad Bernie took on Alan Bond in the heady 1980s, launching Power Brewing at Yatala.
James took over the 132-year-old Norman in 2015 in a lease deal worth $7 million.
“It’s an iconic hotel and when the opportunity presented itself, I was pleased to acquire the property,’’ he said at the time.
“We got out of hotels in the late ’80s and did other things. Now we see an opportunity back in the hotel sector. We think this is a very sound investment.’’
Power also operates Personalised Plates Queensland.
In 2019 he sold the family’s Central Brunswick retail property in Fortitude Valley for about $35 million.
JENNY, GODFREY MANTLE
Although 70, Godfrey Mantle is still active in the hospitality industry — and arguably more than ever.
He and his wife’s Mantle Group has a swag of food and beverage venues, most notably Pig ‘N’ Whistle outlets and the Charming Squire in South Brisbane.
They recently bought Duck & Rice restaurant and up-market The Squire’s Landing restaurant and brewery in Sydney’s CBD.
Mantle Group restaurants now employ 800 people across its venues.
The most recent addition is The Sound Garden live music venue in Fortitude Valley, as well as a 20-year Brisbane City Council lease for a restaurant and cafe atop Mt Coot-tha.
Company records also show sizeable property interests, including land in Papua New Guinea.
Media reports in 2014 revealed Mr Mantle’s Bougainville Islands Group had acquired 99-year-long leases to 15 abandoned cocoa plantations covering 12,500ha.
Mr Mantle’s development interests span from a 184ha property in Bilambil Heights in NSW, bought for $4.8 million in 1997, to more than 80ha of land on the Sunshine Coast.
One 40ha Weyba Downs property was recently listed for sale for $30 million.
The business was established in 1979. In the past 18 months he started the process of selling his Pig’ N’ Whistles and last year sole the leasehold to a Redbank Plains pub.
He also put his Pig ‘N’ Whistle pubs at Brunswick St, Fortitude Valley and Indooroopilly on the market.
BRUCE MATHIESON
The rich lister, worth an estimated $1.54 billion, is by far the biggest player on the local pub scene through ALH Group, which he set up with Woolworths.
ALH owns more than 30 venues across Brisbane including the Breakfast Creek Hotel, the Albany Creek Hotel and Victory.
The company employs over 15,000 people across Australia at more than 300 licensed venues and more than 550 bottle shops including BWS and Dan Murphy’s.
He bought his first hotel in the mid-1970s, expanding his portfolio under the Bruce Mathieson Group.
By 2000, the Mathieson family was operating dozens of licensed venues in Victoria and that year began an association with Woolies.
In 2004 the family company bought ALH, although Woolies later began buying out his share in exchange for a chunk of Endeavour Drinks Group.
ALH is reported to have earned $25 billion from 2013 to 2019, alone.
SCOTT HEMPEL, JOE, SEAN, MATT HEANAN
Mr Hempel and the Heanan brothers, who set up their Valley-based Hallmark Group in 2014, met on what was supposed to have been a short post-school working holiday in the UK.
Mr Hempel, who grew up on the Darling Downs on his parents farm just outside Warwick, ended up running bars and pubs in the Old Dart for a dozen years.
The group started their local pub foray with what is now Finn McCool’s.
They own Retro’s Cocktail Lounge, and also control The Lord Alfred and Lefty’s Music Hall, creating something of a powerhouse on iconic Caxton St in Brisbane’s inner-west.
Other assets include the Spotted Cow in Toowoomba and the Cavill Hotel in Surfers Paradise.
MALCOLM NYST
Dr Nyst owns a pub with no beer, the historic late-1800s Broadway Hotel at Woolloongabba.
The brother of high-profile Gold Coast barrister Chris Nyst, he bought the long-abandoned property with, at one stage, plans to sell to former Premier Campbell Newman’s brother-in-law Seb Monsour.
After Mr Monsour’s dream of a 27-level resident tower on the site fell through, Dr Nyst put the Broadway on the market in March.
Hotel industry experts said it would be a challenge to run as a pub as it has no pokies licences.
MATT MCIVER, GERARD MARTIN
The two mates started their Newstead-based craft brewery, Range Brewing, as “a bit of a joke’’ but it’s certainly no joke now.
The pair recently lodged a development applied to boost beer production 500 per cent to one million litres a year, have sent their first shipment to Asia and have more on the way.
As well as the brewhouse, they have a large seating area which can accommodate up to 150 people — although only 60 are currently permitted due to Covid rules.
PETER, NIKKI CEDERGREN
The couple bought the leasehold of the historic Alliance Hotel in Spring Hill in 2018.
Mrs Cedergren said she wanted to get into the pub game to create a “community” harking back to her upbringing in a small NSW town.
“I love the people who come into our door everyday. We have genuine conversations and we really connect,” she said.
“But there are days when you open the pub and it feels like a Sunday, there’s no one around and that’s gut wrenching. But Peter is a really positive influence by reminding me to look at he bigger picture.”
TOBY, LUCINDA DOWLING BLACK
The Full Moon Hotel, Sandgate husband and wife team have owned and operated the landmark pub for over five years.
Mrs Dowling Black said she and her husband cut their teeth running a pub in Darwin which has been in Dowling Family for four generations.
They then owned and operated and old timber country pub in the Byron Bay Hinterland, where they had their three children before buying the Full Moon Hotel.
“Needless to say, those days are a blur of late nights and early mornings, a pregnant belly working behind the bar and clearing tables with a sleeping baby in a sling,” Mrs Dowling Black said.
NICK, MEAGAN GREGORSKI
The pair, described by some as the “best publicans in town’’ took over Port Office Hotel in the CBD in 2017 and transformed it into an award-winning gastropub.
But disaster struck two years later when fire raged through the hotel kitchen.
A $2 million rebuilding program, which involved refurbishment of the dining room and front bar, was supported by the local business community.
“When news of the fire spread, this incredible group of local regulars materialised, ready to do whatever was needed,” said Mrs Gregorski.
MICHELE, GRANT CLARK
They bought their first pub Auroras in Albert Street in the CBD in 2005 which they renamed the Brewhouse, operating it until 2008.
They then bought the Clarence Corner Hotel and renamed it the Brewhouse, in 2010, and also opened Brisbane Brewing in West End in 2015.
With two children they say juggling their working and family lives can be a tough.
“We alternate on the coalface as such and generally we have different roles in the business and they don’t overlap,” Mr Clark said.
Mrs Clark, who has a background in marketing, said running pubs as a couple was a “big commitment” especially with children.
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