It’s last bids for the Ashmont Inn, which is on the market for the first time in 47 years. Photo: Ashmont Inn Hotel Facebook.
If you’ve ever wanted to own a pub in Wagga, a rare opportunity has come up – but you’ll need to act fast.
Expressions of interest to buy the Ashmont Inn at 55 Tobruk Street close at noon on Thursday (18 September).
The 4995 sqm landholding was built in 1978 and has been owned by the Dutch immigrant Mathot family since then. This is the first time in 47 years it’s been available for purchase.
It’s managed by veteran hotelier Andrew Behnke, who previously ran the nearby Turvey Park Hotel.
HTL Property, which is managing the sale, is not providing any details on the expected Ashmont Inn sale price or how much interest the pub has attracted since it was first advertised in August.
The hotel brokerage firm says the venue makes $5 million in revenue per year through the bar, food, gaming, wagering and retail liquor.
It has 20 poker machines in an area where punters love to gamble (residents in Wagga and its surrounding towns lose about $60 million per year to the pokies).
The pub features a single service point with a bar, bistro, gaming room and TAB. It has a large and exclusive trading catchment bounded by the Sturt Highway and railway line servicing the Ashmont residential catchment and West Wagga industrial precinct.
HTL Property has been active on the pub market scene across the Riverina over the past year.
In June, they managed the sale of Wagga’s historic Murrumbidgee Mill, which was bought by a Wagga hotel operator for $3 million after years of failed attempts to sell it.
HTL Property also oversaw the $50 million sale of Griffith’s Gem Hotel and Bull & Bell Steakhouse, for which ownership was transferred from New England publican Jim Knox to former rugby union international Bill Young in August.
Enquiries or expressions of interest to buy the Ashmont Inn can be lodged through the HTL Property website.
