Merewether's Beach Hotel on the market for the first time in almost 40 years

The Beach Hotel leasehold has been owned by various members of the Bale and Twohill families since the mid-1970s, with a partnership between the two families currently sharing joint ownership of the pub’s freehold.

The Bale family acquired the freehold from Tooth and Co. Brewery in the 1980s. Relative John Twohill and wife Lynn were subsequently brought in to run the hotel in 1984, a role they still retain, and later acquired a share of the hotel resulting in the current partnership.

Listing agent Mike Wheatley of Knight Frank said that the partnership had decided that now was the time to move on.

“The operating partners – that couple – have been looking after the hotel since 1984. When you think about the normal turnover in pub operators to be there for that long is unbelievable,” he said.

Joan Bale, in a written history of the property included in the marketing, said that “all good things must come to an end”.

But the property’s history extends beyond the tale of family ownership, with a hotel having existed on the Beach Hotel site since the 1880s, according to Mr Wheatley.

“There’s been a hotel on that site since the 1880s. The term ‘iconic’ is overused when it comes to property, but when you talk about an iconic pub, this thing has just been a part of the Merewether Beach area for so long that it is truly iconic. That position along the beach is unrepeatable,” Mr Wheatley said.

The original hotel was demolished and replaced by the present-day structure around 1946 by Tooth and Co. – the one-time major brewer of almost all beer served in NSW.

The hotel has undergone extensive refurbishments since then, most recently in 2016 when the current beach theme was installed. The property has an “under-utilised” late license and features a main bar, bistro, gaming room and upstairs residence.

“It’s one of those pubs where the atmosphere really matches the area. It’s got so many outdoor areas. There’s a couple of very well-positioned balconies with magnificent ocean views,” Mr Wheatley said.

He added that the hotel holds a special place in the hearts of many residents of Newcastle and the Hunter Valley, with Merewether Beach a popular destination for locals.

“We’ve been advertising for only a week now, and we’ve had a couple of people ring up and say ‘I met my wife up there’.”

There has been strong interest thus far from existing pub operators.

“We’ve pitched it at the upper end of the market – there’s a number of multiple pub owners who have been in touch with us,” Mr Wheatley said, adding that the asset would “certainly fetch in excess of $20 million”.

He said Merewether was a “prestigious” part of Newcastle, with an established population and a landscape characterised by low- to medium-density development.

It’s also home to the Merewether ocean baths, often claimed to be the largest ocean baths in the southern hemisphere.