Iris Capital acquired the Tavern which strategically occupies a 5,847m2 site opposite Fairfield train station and included large public and TAB bars, bottle shop, restaurant and 30 gaming machines. The property has been identified as one of only 13 priority future Fairfield CBD development sites with an FSR of 3.5 to 1 and a 39m proposed height limit presenting an extraordinary large-scale, mixed-use development opportunity of over 23,000m2 GFA potentially.

JLL National Director John Musca managed the complex transaction negotiating with incumbent tenants the ALH group to sell their long-term leasehold interest whilst working simultaneously with Joe Ganim Jnr and Tony Bargwanna of Savills Hotels to secure the privately held Freehold interest.

Musca suggested, "In what has rapidly become the most tightly held asset class in the country, the hotel profile appears a natural fit for the purchaser’s widely respected operating strengths and their exceptional pedigree as city-centre, integrated developers and site optimizers." 

“It’s an incredible site which at its core has a hotel with a long history of being a Top 10 gaming and wagering business in the state”, he said.

In recent years, Iris Capital has been particularly active in the development space with recent mixed-use projects in high density areas including Bondi Junction, the transformative Newcastle East End city project and a proposed landmark development on the Bourbon Hotel and former Swans Club site in Potts Point.

“Analysis of the Top 100 gaming venues in NSW demonstrates the rapid consolidation of the asset class, interestingly driven by experienced, private hoteliers with strong balance sheets, and leaving little scope for short-term aggregators, we’re almost at a zero supply position”, Musca said.

The Cambridge Tavern sale follows the recent acquisition of the Lidcombe Hotel by private Sydney hotel group Lesday for $54 million, purchased from Monarch Capital a new special-purpose pub roll-up investment vehicle created by Varde Capital, previous successful foundation investors in the Redcape Hotel Group.

Varde exited their interest in Redcape as part of a $677 million sale to investment bank Moelis Australia in July 2017.

Sam Arnaout Iris CEO commented that, “We’re delighted with the asset and it’s a testimony to the expertise of JLL Hotels Director John Musca to have somehow brought this transaction together between the three parties and made the acquisition of this exceptional property possible.”

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