The Oceanside Hawks Nest motel, which was once John Howard’s favoured family holiday retreat, has been listed for sale.
Located on the corner of Booner and Bennett Streets in Hawks Nest, on the mid-north coast of New South Wales, the motel sits on a 2,688 square metre site.
It houses a total of 52 units, 31 of which are freehold motel rooms and 21 are one and two-bedroom serviced apartments.
The motel is located 70 metres from the beach, and facilities include a heated pool, spa, and water slide. It recently underwent a substantial refurbishment, with close to $250,000 spent upgrading the property.
Also on site is a fully leased restaurant, café, a sports bar, substantial car parking, as well as zoning for long-term redevelopment.
The listing is managed by Paul Kapiris and Rob Cross of CBRE Hotels.
Cross told Property Observer the listing is expected to fetch around $5 million.
He also said that the widening gap between low current interest rates and investor returns for hotels and motels provides a solid opportunity for investors to enter the market place and achieve strong returns.
“Recently, we have heard of hoteliers locking in interest rates around or even below 5%, making the purchase of a hotel or motel that provides double digit returns a favourable investment,” he said.
According to Kapiris, the hotel would attract strong interest from owner operators, as well as investors because of its solid trading history.
“The motel is currently owned by a Sydney based investor, with a management couple taking care of the day to day operations.”
“Whilst the asset currently performs well, an experienced owner operator would be aware of the inherent upside available with a more hands on approach to management,” he said.
According to RP Data records, the site was last sold in 2003 for $3.8 million. Prior to this sale, it was sold in 2001 for $1.35 million.
The property has been listed for sale through an expressions of interest campaign. Applications close on Wednesday, 4 September.