Redcape splashes out on Queensland’s Prince Consort and Saltwater Creek Hotel

The pub group is making a push into the Sunshine State as its hospitality properties perform well.

The Redcape Hotel Fund has bought The Prince Consort in Brisbane’s Fortitude Valley.

The nation’s pub market is showing positive signs this year with the MA Redcape Hotel Fund swooping on The Prince Consort in Brisbane’s Fortitude Valley and Saltwater Creek Hotel in Helensvale for a combined $66m.

The pub landlord has signalled its confidence in the market and late last year also bought three other venues in South East Queensland, which has helped diversify it away from its Sydney base.

Redcape bought Commercial Hotel in Redbank, Lucky Tree Tavern in Durack and The Willow Hotel in Moorooka last December.

Buying The Prince Consort, a landmark venue originally established in 1888, adds a high-profile, multifaceted hospitality asset to the Redcape portfolio. The heritage-listed venue is renowned as one of Brisbane’s best, having been awarded Queensland’s Hotel of the Year in 2023.

TBRE’s Tony and Molly Bargwanna were the selling agents.

The listed Endeavour Group had proposed buying The Prince Consort Hotel and associated bottle shop, Prince Cellars, but dropped the plans last year after the competition watchdog raised concerns.

Endeavour operates two hotels — the Brunswick Hotel and Hello Gorgeous — near the pub, as well as nearby bottle shops and liquor stores.

The Prince Consort Hotel consists of the hotel, which has on-premises food and beverage consumption, live music and entertainment, gaming and wagering, function services and the bottle shop.

Saltwater Creek Hotel, in Helensvale, is a well-established suburban pub catering to a strong local community in the Gold Coast corridor. Redcape could refurbish the pub and its retail liquor operation.

The Prince Consort Hotel.

Redcape has another acquisition under conditional contracts and will settle all of the deals in this quarter, taking its total investment to $145m.

The unlisted pub fund has been actively managing its portfolio in recent times to diversify its earnings and to generate greater distributions for investors.

It has upgraded its quarterly distribution target to 2.5 cents per unit, a 25 per cent jump on last year,

Redcape’s bullish moves come after it recently announced it had cleared all investor redemptions after selling some non-core properties.

MA Redcape Hotel Fund managing director Chris Unger said the pubs “present outstanding opportunities to enhance our portfolio and team with their unique market positioning and earnings potential.

“Brisbane’s Fortitude Valley is a dynamic hospitality hub, and The Prince Consort’s reputation as a multi-experience entertainment venue makes it an exciting long-term addition to the portfolio. Likewise, Saltwater Creek’s strong local following aligns with our model to own and operate pubs that are at the heart of their communities,” he said.

The performance of key venues is also up with like-for-like pub earnings 11.5 per cent higher year-to-date.

“We are seeing continued strong results in our venues, and these acquisitions position us well for further improvement in investor returns” Mr Unger added, flagging the pub fund had more than $30m to spend this year.

Originally published as Redcape splashes out on Queensland’s Prince Consort and Saltwater Creek Hotel