Publican Justin Hemmes snaps at Rozelle’s 3 Weeds for cool $5m

Just two weeks after splurging $7.5m on a Dover Heights mansion, Justin Hemmes has spent $5m expanding his hotel portfolio by buying the 3 Weeds pub in Rozelle.

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The Justin Juggernaut rolls on.

Just two weeks since he plonked down $7.5 million for a Dover Heights mansion, Justin Hemmes’ ongoing spending spree continued apace this week with the hospitality mogul quietly snapping up the iconic 3 Weeds pub in Rozelle.

The Merivale boss is understood to have paid $5 million for the hotel which marks his second foray into Sydney’s affluent inner west.

Contacted this week Hemmes declined to comment on the sale due to confidentiality clause but a rival publican close to the deal said the latest sale proves Hemmes is showing no signs of slowing down in his mind-boggling cash-splash.

Justin Hemmes is understood to have paid $5 million of the 3 Weeds pub in Rozelle. Picture: Christian Gilles

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In the past two years Hemmes has laid out hundreds of millions for a string of pubs and, most recently dropped $100 million for an office block which adjoins his flagship venture Ivy in the Sydney CBD.

Hemmes last year revealed plans to transform the site into a high rise hotel — a project which is expected to be years in the making.

But his purchase last week of 3 Weeds shows the burgeoning property tycoon is still keeping his eyes closely fixed on the smaller pub market as well as his larger-scale projects.

The sale also brings his venue count in Sydney to a staggering 73 — making him Australia’s biggest hospitality player ahead of groups like Bruce Solomon and Matt Moran’s Solotel and the Laundy pub group.

The 3 Weeds Pub, Rozelle Picture: Chris Pavlich

According to Andrew Jolliffe, of top brokerage firm HTL Property, Hemmes has moved beyond the tag of ‘pub tsar’ and cemented his status as a bona fide real estate tycoon.

“In terms of property, Justin perhaps had the biggest impact on the industry of anyone in the country last year,” says Jolliffe, who predicts the buy-up will only roll on.

“My view on Justin and his acquisitions … if there were ten venues between now and they end of the year that met his criteria, I would fully expect him could action all ten of them.

“In saying that, if there were none that met his criteria, I would expect him to participate in zero.”

Originally published as Publican Justin Hemmes snaps at Rozelle’s 3 Weeds for cool $5m