‘Off the market’: The $175m pub sale that never happened
The Thomas family will retain ownership of one of Sydney’s most famous watering holes, The Oaks Hotel in Neutral Bay, after being unable to secure what would have been a record $175 million pub sale.
The sprawling double-storey venue at 118 Military Road, which the Thomases have owned and operated since 1975, was put on the market almost two years ago through JLL after they received a number of unsolicited approaches.
However, after patiently waiting almost 18 months for the mystery purchaser – a local family that has never been identified – to settle, the hotel’s general manager, Andrew Thomas, confirmed his family had taken the pub off the market and were in it for the “long haul”.
“We have been here since 1975 and are happy to retain it,” Mr Thomas told The Australian Financial Review.
“We’re undertaking a refresh and upgrade of some of the areas [of the hotel] ahead of spring and summer.”
Asked for his thoughts on the unsuccessful two-year sales process, Mr Thomas was philosophical.
“If it was meant to be, then it was meant to be. Who knows where the market is going at the moment? There are not many pubs for sale at the moment. Other publicans that were thinking of selling are holding on.”
Mr Thomas said The Oaks was trading well, and doing better than last year.
“When things get tough with the economy, people tighten their strings and go back to the pub, which offer a bit of value.”
Rich Lister interest
Famous for its beer garden dominated by an 80-year-old English oak tree, and standing on a prime 2188-square-metre corner site in one of Sydney’s most affluent suburbs, The Oaks attracted interest from the likes of Rich List pub baron Justin Hemmes, who famously visited in September 2022 to check it out.
Though Mr Hemmes decided to pass on the opportunity (as did fellow Rich Listers the Laundy family), selling agents from JLL confirmed in February last year that The Oaks had been sold to a mystery buyer for a sum close to the asking price.
Mr Thomas said he had never met the buyers in person, but described them as a “local family in the area” – dispelling previous rumours that linked The Oaks to the likes of celebrity chef Rick Stein and Mad Max director George Miller.
The deal was originally due to settle in March last year but was repeatedly pushed back alongside reassurances from both the Thomas family and JLL that it would eventually be completed.
The Financial Review understands an unconditional sales contract was signed, and a deposit paid, but the buyers were unable to raise the funds needed to settle – a challenge made harder by rising interest rates and tougher trading conditions.
JLL declined to comment.
Had the sale proceeded to settlement it would have eclipsed the nearly $160 million paid for the Crossroads Hotel in Casula, 34 kilometres south-west of the Sydney CBD, by former Sydney lord mayor Nelson Meers and his family in April 2022.
Instead, it will remain in the hands of the Thomas family, headed by 91-year-old David “Taffy” Thomas, after whom one of the bars is named.
David Thomas acquired the leasehold to The Oaks from brewer Tooth & Co in 1975 for just $250,000. He then astutely acquired the freehold for almost $12 million in 1990 with other investors.
The hotel dates back to 1938, when it was built by Tooth & Co. The first hotel on the site opened in 1880.
Its popular garden lounge opened in the late 1950s after being designed by architects Morrow and Gordon.
Extensively renovated in 2019 by the Thomas family, it includes Taffy’s Sports Bar, cocktail bar and grill Alala’s, the beer garden, a gaming room with 30 poker machines, extensive first-floor function spaces and a bottle shop.
The Thomas family also owns and operates The Winston hotel near Blacktown in western Sydney.
