A busy night at the Strawberry Hills Hotel, Surry Hills, on Saturday December 19, 2020.
Landmark inner-city drinking hole the Strawberry Hills Hotel has been snapped up by Danielle Richardson, daughter of billionaire publican Arthur Laundy, and her husband Shane.
The pub, just 200m from Central Station, has been sold by the family of the late Margaret Hargreaves, who also owned the nearby Shakespeare Hotel, in a “discreet” off-market deal negotiated by JLL Hotels and Hospitality Group Senior Vice President Kate MacDonald and managing director Ben McDonald.
The pair aren’t disclosing the sale price, though industry sources suggest it was about $30m.
Records show Hargreaves had picked it up for $1.47m in 1994.
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The late publican Margaret Hargreaves at the Shakespeare Hotel, Surry Hills, which she also owned.
Mates at The Strawberry Hills Hotel, Ron Green, Ray Brown and Geoff Thomas in 2017. (Photo by Troy Snook/News Corp Australia)
The late Hargreaves family matriarch, Margaret, first acquired “The Strawbs” as the family’s second pub investment, a decade after purchasing the iconic “Shakes” on nearby Devonshire St.
Over more than three decades, Margaret, who died last July, built both venues into genuine staples of the Surry Hills hospitality scene.
The Shakes was sold in 2024 for about $10m.
The Strawbs features a large ground-floor public bar, a gaming room with 26 gaming machine entitlements, and a first-floor alfresco drinking and dining space popular with local residents and nearby corporate patrons.
Having received numerous unsolicited approaches over the years, Margaret’s family determined that now was the right time to divest the long-held asset.
Billionaire Publican Arthur Laundy with his daughter Danielle and husband Shane Richardson at Watsons Bay Hotel last year. Photo: Jane Dempster/The Australian.
A pedestrian crosses tram tracks on Devonshire Street outside “The Strawbs”. (Photo by James Gourley/The Sunday Telegraph)
The hotel will transition to new ownership with the Richardsons expected to take over operations before Christmas.
“The Hargreaves family have built an incredibly strong business in Strawberry Hills Hotel and should be enormously proud of its popularity and longevity in Sydney’s hospitality scene,” said Kate MacDonald, Senior Vice President, JLL Hotels and Hospitality Group.
“It has been a privilege to discreetly manage this process and deliver an outcome that reflects the quality and heritage of the asset.”
Ben McDonald, Managing Director of JLL Hotels and Hospitality Group, added: “Strawberry Hills Hotel is a trophy-calibre, inner city pub with a prime corner position and a 32-year ownership tenure in a thriving hospitality precinct benefiting from sustained investment.”
The Laundy family (Laundy Hotels) now own and operate more than 46 venues across NSW, including the Watsons Bay Hotel; Northies at Cronulla; the Mona in Mona Vale; Wooly Bay Hotel and the Bells Hotel at Woolloomooloo; the Light Brigade in Woollahra; the Woolpack in Redfern; the Red Lion Hotel in Rozelle and Woolwich Pier Hotel in Woolwich.
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