Justin Hemmes buys Royal Hotel Bondi for up to $20 million
JUSTIN Hemmes’ unprecedented spending splurge continues apace with an up to $30 million Bondi purchase and speculation he might expand his empire overseas.
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JUSTIN Hemmes’ unprecedented spending splurge continues apace with the Sydney hotelier dropping up to $30 million for the Royal Hotel Bondi today.
And the hotelier says he won’t be calling time on his breathtaking shopping spree any time soon and is even considering an overseas purchase to expand his empire.
In what is his 10th pub acquisition in three years, Hemmes capped a week of speculation by finally announcing the purchase from the famous pub’s previous longtime owner Geoff Moulding.
Hemmes’ hospitality company behemoth Merivale will receive the keys to the Royal Hotel in July next year.
However Hemmes has plenty to keep him busy in the meantime.
The Bondi acquisition follows several big ticket purchases this year including The Alexandria Hotel ($10m), The Tennyson Hotel in Mascot ($37.5m), The Collaroy Hotel ($21m) and most-recently the Vic On The Park in Marrickville which he bought from John Singleton’s Australian Pub Fund last month for $25 million.
And the colourful multi-millionaire says the Royal, which is still in near-original condition complete with sticky carpets and a decades-old pool table, is by no means the end of his Sydney shopping spree.
“I’m open-minded about expanding and growing if the right things keep coming up,” says Hemmes, whose hotel buy-up bill since 2014 tops $220 million.
Built in 1904 and sitting on a sweeping 1327 square metre block on Bondi Road, The Royal has been owned and operated by the Moulding family for the past 40 years.
Merivale operates 65 venues.