Brookvale Hotel: Northern beaches ‘institution’ sold to Sydney pub family for $40m

A popular Sydney pub that describes itself as a ‘northern beaches institution’ has been sold for a whopping $40 million.

The Brookvale Hotel, close to Brookvale Oval and popular with Manly Seas Eagles NRL fans, sold to a Sydney pub-owning family for $40 million. Picture: Brookvale Hotel

One of the northern beaches’ most popular pubs has been sold — for a cool $40 million.

The Brookvale Hotel, a favourite watering hole for Manly Sea Eagles footy fans and thirsty tradies, was bought by a large Sydney family-owned hotel company, the Irvin Hotel Group.

Its previous owners, the Burst Hotel Group, owned by the Kelly family, bought the pub for $4.6 million in 1998.

The Kellys also made a motza when it sold off the hotel’s carpark in 2015 for $15 million to a developer who went on to build a five-storey “shop top” apartment block on the site.

Commercial real estate agents JLL announced that the Irvins, which now own 14 venues including the Time & Tide Hotel at Dee Why, bought the hotel — reduced in size after the land subdivision — after an invitation-only sales campaign.

The Brookvale Hotel went through a multimillion refurbishment in 2016. Picture: Troy Snook

The sale comes as the pub’s previous owners recently announced that from March 14 next year, the Brookvale will open until 3am Monday to Saturday.

And it’s looking for more staff to fill its roster.

Former Brookvale Hotel owner Charles Kelly showed off the then recently refurbished pub in March 2016. Picture: Troy Snook

The hotel on Pittwater Rd, a short stroll south of Brookvale Oval and north of Warringah Mall, will also potentially benefit from the proposed redevelopment of the Brookvale town centre, which includes an increase in nearby apartments and a 30m height limit as part of the new proposed Brookvale Structure Plan.

With the pub comes 29 poker machines and 40 on-site car spaces.

Brookvale Rex Hotel in 1960. Picture: Noel Butlin Archive, Australian National University

Rockin' on at Didi's at the Brookvale Hotel. Picture: Supplied

The Brookvale, which opened in 1957 by the Hooker Corporation and later sold to brewers Tooth & Co in 1972, had a popular nightclub, Didi’s, which attracted big name singers, bands and comedians.

About 600 people queued outside Didi’s on a Tuesday night for the first Sydney gig of Crowded House.

JLL hotels managing director John Musca said in a statement that ‘”hotels commanding a virtual monopolistic trading position in strong retail locations will always be highly sought after and Brookvale is no exception”.

“We have no doubt the hotel will generate heightened investment returns over the short, medium and long term,” he said.