Glenn Piper buys Beach Hotel in Newcastle for $40m as pub valuations soar

Pub values are soaring as coastal properties change hands at a rapid clip.

Hotelier Glenn Piper has snapped up Newcastle’s iconic Merewether Beach Hotel for about $40m.

Coastal pubs continue to draw investors with well-known hotelier Glenn Piper swooping on Newcastle’s iconic Merewether Beach Hotel for about $40m.

The expansive corner pub is but the latest to sell in a national boom that shows little sign of slowing as property investors chase lifestyle assets which are benefiting from the tourism boom.

It last traded in 2019 when it was picked up by well-known Sydney hotelier Andrew Lazarus for more than $20m.

A local institution for more than a century, the Beach Hotel is on the shoreline and was chased by the big pub families who dominate the sector before being secured by Piper and a small syndicate of investors.

The group, many of whom are locals, are committed to revitalising famed The Beaches property, as more NSW coastal pubs follow the surge in values led by major properties in Sydney and areas like Byron Bay.

Mr Piper said the Merewether Beach Hotel had been part of the area since the 1880s, and he had surfed the beaches as a child.

“My family who live in Newcastle were actually the ones who told me the pub was on the market. They will be coming on board as investors which makes the sale even more special,” he said.

Mr Piper, recently overhauled the Harbord Hotel in the Sydney suburb of Freshwater and upgraded the well-known beachside pub.

“Both pubs share a wonderful affinity with the surf – the salty sea air is part of their DNA. That’s exactly what we wanted to capture at Harbord and certainly what we’ll celebrate at Merewether, the home of Australia’s largest surf carnival,“ he said.

Mr Piper also recently took on the leasehold of Q Station, which sits on 30 hectares on the headland on Sydney’s northern beaches. He is working up plans that reflect the history of that area and consulting with key land, heritage and indigenous groups before making any changes to its operations.

Mr Piper will receive the keys to Merewether Beach Hotel in July and it will trade as normal for now.

His purchase follows the recent sale of the Caves Beach Hotel to the Gravanis brother’s Oscars Hotels juggernaut, with the latest sale a record for Newcastle.

It was brokered by HTL Property agents Dan Dragicevich and Andrew Jolliffe. They said the Beach Hotel was more than just a pub to Novacatrians.

“The new development application will elevate this generational property into the sphere of similar Sydney-based hospitality operations such as Watson’s Bay Hotel and the Coogee Pavilion, further cementing Newcastle’s renaissance as a genuine capital city,” Mr Dragicevich said.

HTL’s Mr Jolliffe estimates that $1bn worth of hotel assets would transact during the June quarter as buyers chase big pubs and values rise for premium properties.

“Merewether’s Beach Hotel enjoys type casting alongside the nation’s great coastal hospitality assets, and its scale and ocean front proximity ensure it will remain an indefinitely prosperous investment,” Mr Jolliffe said.