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Square metres: True icon Roebuck Bay Hotel in Broome set for broad appeal

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Kim MacdonaldThe West Australian
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Roebuck Bay hotel
Camera IconRoebuck Bay hotel Credit: supplied

One of WA’s most iconic pubs, the Roebuck Bay Hotel in Broome’s Chinatown district, is to be sold for the first time in decades, and change could be on the cards.

The Roey — as the 132-year-old hotel is affectionately known — is embedded in the State’s history books, after being built by London jeweller E.W. Streeter to lure pearling crews to spend time in the North West town.

The hotel was rebuilt after a fire in 1904.

Now owned by the Coppin family, after its purchase by the late Brian Coppin in the 1980s, it is now one of the biggest hospitality venues in the region. It earns $400,000 in revenue each week through its Bottlemart drive-through bottle shop, Pearlers Bar and Bistro, modern sports bar, outdoor entertainment venue the Oasis Bar, and a motel and backpackers’ accommodation.

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CBRE’s Ryan McGinnity and Derek Barlow have noted the venue derives 80 per cent of its income from only a fraction of the 12,000sqm landholding, making it ripe for development.

Mr Barlow said that further development would capitalise on the property’s position in the heart of Chinatown, suggesting a commercial or tourist facility.

“With accommodation occupancy rates approaching 100 per cent on weekends and peak periods, development of new rooms is something that should be considered by any owner, to further profit from Australia’s domestic travel boom, which we expect Broome to be a beneficiary of for many years to come,” Mr Barlow said.

Mr McGinnity said he expected it would draw international interest.

“Many venues are listed as iconic; few can truly claim to be that, but The Roey can,” Mr McGinnity said.

“Anyone who has been to Broome has probably had a beer in the sports bar, enjoyed a meal at Pearlers, or if staying long into the night would have witnessed their Thursday night competitions, which have been famously running since the 1970s.”

Expressions of interest close on September 1.

heritage photo of the Roebuck Bay hotel.
Camera Iconheritage photo of the Roebuck Bay hotel. Credit: supplied

Record price for Cottesloe building

The building that houses the Cottesloe eatery regarded as a local institution, Vans, has sold, attracting a record price of nearly $5 million.

Jack Bradshaw and Vincent Siciliano of LJ Hooker Commercial Perth sold it on behalf of the Carew-Reid family who have owned the prominent piece of real estate for decades. The buyer, whose name has not yet appeared on official records, was introduced by Ric Olivieri of Axia Corporate Property.

The $4.85m sale price for 1-7 Napolean Street, which includes the neighbouring Esola jewellery store, has an investment yield of 4 per cent.

The 382sqm shop reflects a land rate of $12,630/sqm, which is a record price for the 40-shop, cosmopolitan retail strip.

Vans is a popular hangout for the A-list and has a lease until 2031, including options.

“One to seven Napoleon Street is the crown jewel in the best-performing neighbourhood retail strip in Perth. The role and popularity of strip shops has been reinforced by COVID as a place people want to connect with their local communities,” Mr Bradshaw said.

“Despite negative press, international events and interest rate rises, this result shows a strong appetite for well-located retail and commercial properties.”

Mr Olivieri described the location and the constant loyal patronage on the high street precinct as “unmatched”.

Vans Cottesloe.
Camera IconVans Cottesloe. Credit: SPECTRAL IMAGING

Another day, another hotel

Another hotel has sold to a Singaporean buyer, with investment and asset management company High Street Holdings buying Peppers Kings Square for about $26m.

CBRE Hotels negotiated the sale off-market, marking the second city hotel to sell off-market to a Singaporean buyer recently.

Quest serviced apartments on Adelaide Terrace has quietly sold to a private buyer in Singapore for $41m.

The acquisition of Wellington Street’s Peppers is the third Australian hotel bought by HSH in 12 months, following Rydges North Sydney and the Kennigo Hotel Brisbane.

HSH partner Daniel Yip said the freehold, 120-room hotel was a “great value-add opportunity in one of the country’s hottest economies”.

He said the hotel had several upside opportunities, including a repositioning, the reconfiguration of the hotel’s ground level and meeting spaces as well as the potential to create a multipurpose venue on the rooftop.

The property will also be rebranded as Rydges Kings Square.

“Given the supply and demand dynamics of the Perth hotel market, the hotel’s location and the size of rooms, we are thrilled to strengthen our relationship with EVENT Hospitality & Entertainment and bring the Rydges brand back to Perth,” Mr Yip said.

CBRE’s Head of Capital Markets WA, Aaron Desange said the new owners would benefit from Asia-Pacific’s rebounding corporate and leisure travel market.

Strategic move

Yet another off-market deal has been made in the sale of two adjoining Maddington industrial properties, which sold for $2.35m.

The 3738sqm site, including an 1880sqm fully leased building at 15 and 17 Carole Road, sold with a 6.56 per cent yield.

The property was sold by Ray White Commercial WA agents Josh Sumner and Enrique Reyes, who said it is a tightly held area.

“Two separately titled properties with long-term leases provide future flexibility,” Mr Sumner said.

“The sellers, who owned the building since 2007, had been leasing the property to their furniture manufacturing business and, while happy to sell, wanted to continue running their business from the property.”

Mr Reyes said the strategic location is deemed to have potential future growth, given most of the buildings in the area represent an older style of construction.

“The area has seen several sites being redeveloped to newer buildings as the demand for easy access industrial sites increases,” he said.

EQ12 tower a success

The EQ12 tower has emerged as one of the most successful A-Grade buildings in the CBD, following a few big lease deals.

A $10m refurbishment strategy appears to have paid dividends for Cape Bouvard at its EQ12 The Esplanade office tower.

Three full floors and one part floor totaling 3500sqm have been leased, making it one of the Perth CBD’s most successful A-Grade buildings.

It has secured four tenants, three of them whole floor tenants or larger, taking up more than 3500sqm over 12 months.

It comes at a time when the owners of a lot of the buildings in the CBD have struggled to lease space, particularly to larger tenants of 1000sqm plus.

New tenants include MMA Offshore (1300sqm), ADCO Constructions (1030sqm) and JMD Engineering (194sqm).

CBRE’s James Phelan and Luke Bray negotiated the leases, all being for a minimum of five years at rentals of about $550/sqm.

Mr Phelan praised Cape Bouvard’s speculative fit-out formula.

“From entry to exit, the building has a consistent theme and carefully designed fit-out” Mr Phelan said.

“All spaces were leased within 12 weeks of completion and we saw noticeable improvements in the commercial terms as the campaign progressed.

“The location of the building in the epicentre of an emerging CBD precinct has been an attraction and we’ve seen tenants moving in from the suburbs, as well as some expanding CBD tenants looking to fit on one floor.”

ADCO’s WA manager James Prattent said the move to a central location represented the company’s growth in WA.

Cape Bouvard Manager Tristan Cribb expects the building will be fully leased by the end of the year.

“We have been delighted with the market response and with one remaining full floor fit-out set for completion by November 2022, we’re thrilled with the progress made since the refurbishment commenced in 2020,” Mr Cribb said.

Rivervale development

A rare and massive inner-ring site with 60,000 cars passing every day has hit the market in Rivervale.

Situated at the corner of 105–107 Great Eastern Highway and 2 Acton Avenue, the 1864sqm site is being sold through Realmark Commercial retail sales and leasing director Michael Richardson.

“The property is suitable for a range of developments or uses such as fast food, child care, offices or showrooms, and is ready for immediate development,” he said.

“With great surrounding tenants such as AMPOL, BWS and close by to Crown Casino, the site is well positioned to be frequented by desired customer demographics,” he said.

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