The former Noahs Backpackers, now known as South Bondi Hotel, has sold for $60m.
The former Noah’s Backpackers in Bondi Beach, the one venue bankrupt pub baron Jon Adgemis had wanted to hang on to, has sold again for $60m — $8m less than what he bought it for 2022.
And the buyer is Tom Wallace’s Millinium Capital Managers, the crew that’s now snapped up five former Adgemis venues for a total of close to $130m.
The other four are the refurbished Hotel Diplomat in Potts Point for about $20m; Kurrajong Hotel in Erskineville for $20m; the Town Hall Hotel at Balmain for $9.5m and the Three Weeds at Paddington.
Adgemis had bought the prominent Campbell Pde, Bondi Beach corner site, now dilapidated and covered in graffiti, for $68m.
The former KPMG dealmaker, who has $1.8bn in debts, had grand plans for the property, changing its name to the South Bondi Hotel and winning council approval for a revamp that included a rooftop bar overlooking the beach.
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Former pub baron Jon Adgemis. Picture: Liam Mendes / The Australian
The former backpackers was purchased for $68m in 2022.
But receivers McGrath Nicol listed that site, along with the Hotel Diplomat in Potts Point that cost Adgemis’s Public Hospitality Group $16.5m in 2022, for sale via agents HTL Property in conjunction with Colliers in November.
James Cowan, Head of New South Wales Investment Services for Colliers, has been contacted but said he couldn’t confirm the sales or discuss the purchasers. Other sources though have confirmed them.
The listing of the commercial properties followed the forced mortgagee-in-possession sale of the Rose Bay investment home of Adgemis’s family, which sold for $12m after two months on the market.
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Hotel Diplomat in Potts Point.
And lender Deutsche Bank took over three other of his venues in September, including The Empire Hotel in Annandale, The Exchange in Balmain, and Claridge House in Darlinghurst.
Matthew Meynell of Colliers, who has also been contacted for comment, had described the former backpackers as: “a truly iconic beachfront property located at Sydney’s most famous beach.”
He added it was “a rare blank canvas and the opportunity to transform the building into a landmark that defies coastal living”.
The former 260-bed hostel is on an 866 sqm block with views out to Bondi Beach and came with plans to develop 53 accommodation rooms and multiple bar areas.
The Kurrajong Hotel in Erskineville sold for about $20m in September.
And other Sydney venues, Oxford House, The Norfolk, The Strand, The Exchange and Camelia Grove Hotel have also had receivers or administrators appointed.
Adgemis had set up Public Hospitality in 2021 and there were 22 venues before it collapsed.
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