Lantern Hotels set to sell Cairns landmark

Cairns, 13 June 2016-  Another tranche of owners is looking to capitalise on an undersupply of quality pubs available in the marketplace, with the ASX listed Lantern Hotel Group set to sell their iconic Cairns Courthouse Hotel through CBRE Hotels agents Glenn Price, Daniel Dragicevich & Paul Fraser.

The sale is one of a number of hotels the Lantern Group has put to market and follows the successful divestment of the GPO Hotel in Fortitude Valley, QLD and The Bowral Hotel in Bowral, NSW, both through CBRE Hotels earlier this year.

Lantern, who have been restructuring their portfolio to focus on their metropolitan Sydney assets which they see as being their core businesses, have capitalised on a market where an undersupply of quality assets has driven purchasers to look at alternatives to metropolitan areas or towards hotels with strong reversionary values as leases near the end of their term.

Glenn Price, Senior Manager of CBRE Hotels Queensland, said; “The chance to purchase the hotel provides a fantastic opportunity to acquire a premier pub offering with steady trade and potential upside in what is currently one of the key economic and tourist regions in Queensland.”

Director of Hotels QLD for CBRE Paul Fraser added; “There haven’t been too many quality hotels in large regional centres available outside the South East region of Queensland in recent times. The hotel is recognised by many across Queensland as being an institution in Cairns and we are expecting strong interest from private pub groups, corporate groups and private publicans.”

The Courthouse Hotel is positioned in the heart of the Cairns CBD with close proximity to the foreshore and pier, Reef Casino & numerous accommodation hotels and backpackers. The licenced venue offers multiple bars, a restaurant, function rooms and a large beer garden which has a giant projection screen which displays most sporting events. It will be sold as a going concern and the sale will include the Commercial Hotel Licence and 35 Gaming Machine Authorities.

During the 2015 NRL season, the Courthouse Hotel became the unofficial home of the North Queensland Cowboy’s supporters as the Cowboys went on to win the premiership over the Brisbane Broncos.   

National Director of Hotels for CBRE Daniel Dragicevich said; “It’s a special property, not only is it aesthetically appealing but it has had such a strong history in the Cairns community and is likely to attract a wide range of potential buyers including those outside of the hotel sector looking to purchase a trophy asset.”

Cairns is regarded as one of Australia’s top tourist destinations, boasting world renowned natural attractions such as the heritage listed Great Barrier Reef and the Daintree Rainforest. The city boasts a robust business market and is Australia's premier year-round conference and incentive destination.

With the Courthouse Hotel hitting the market, rumours are circulating that the Central Hotel in Bundaberg is likely to also be hitting the market in the near future as it will be the only remaining hotel Lantern still hold in Queensland, although Lantern are yet to comment on this.