Glenn Piper: Harbord Hotel owner to take over Q Station

The owner of the Harbord Hotel, who has transformed the pub since purchasing it, is to take over the Q Station lease. See what his plans are for the historic site.

Glenn Piper at the newly renovated Harbord Hotel.

A northern beaches hotelier who bought and transformed the Harbord Hotel has taken over the lease for the iconic Q Station at North Head.

Glenn Piper will take over the Q Station lease, which runs until 2050, from current owner Mawland subject to formal approval from the National Parks & Wildlife Service (NPWS).

He expects to be onsite in February, when he will look at enhancing what is already in place, including refurbishing some of the hotel rooms, making more out of some of the unused buildings and improving the food and drink side.

Harbord Hotel owner Glenn Piper is behind a major revamp of the popular seaside venue and is now the new leasholder of the Q Station. Picture: Madelaine Wong

Mr Piper, who has significant experience in hospitality, said he would also like to build up the wedding side of the business, as well as increase tourists looking to enjoy the museum and tours.

He said one way this could be achieved would be to improve access to the site, via water or public transport to make it easier for daytrippers and locals to visit.

But he also wants to make the site “better known” for the hospitality side too.

“The Q Station is an unparalleled venue,” Mr Piper told the Manly Daily.

“It has stunning harbour views. I immediately saw it as a rare opportunity. The site is of national significance.

“I’m very excited to secure the leasehold.

“Anything we look at doing will respect the heritage of the buildings.”

A wedding venue space at the Q Station.

He said it was just his name on the leasehold but that he had a budget for capital expenditure to commit to the project.

Mr Piper, who spent $3m on renovating the Harbord Hotel, which has become a very popular venue, still has plans to further develop that site too.

At the Freshwater pub he is looking to open up the first floor to patrons to showcase live music, build boutique accommodation in the carpark and add a cafe.

He said at the Q Station they had some live music too, but he said there were strict conditions around noise levels at the North Head site due to bandicoots and penguins.

In terms of the 100 staff at the Q Station, he said he wanted to keep on all staff when he takes over, and there was already a recruitment campaign happening due to the difficulties in securing workers in the industry at the moment.

The Harbord Hotel was sentitively modernised. Picture: Madelaine Wong

Q Station is a diverse hospitality venue, encompassing a 105-room hotel, multiple food and beverage outlets and expansive grounds with its own private beach fronting Sydney Harbour.

The leasehold sale was negotiated by Tom Gibson and Vasso Zographou of CBRE Hotels, together with Andrew Jackson and Nic Simarro of HTL Property.

“The sale of Q Station is a great example of the resilience of Sydney’s hotel investment market and the continued interest in institutional grade tourism assets,” Mr Gibson said.

The campaign extracted significant domestic and international interest with 13 bids and over 250 enquires.

Q Station Manly.

Mr Piper refused to say how much he bought the leashold for, but it was valued at between $15 to $20m.