This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
SAVILLS has expanded its national hotels team with creation of a new pubs division in Brisbane, led by Tony Bargwanna.
The new team has appointed seven agents and two support staff. Bargwanna is joined by Sean Dollar and a team of experienced operators.
“It has been a key element of our strategy to grow the Savills’ team to acquire a pub hotels division to complement the success that we have had in accommodation hotels,” Savills hotels managing director Michael Simpson said.
“The market has a small number of players who have strong track records as well as the right relationships. Tony Bargwanna was responsible for establishing the JLL pubs division over 17 years ago and we have worked together in many different capacities over that time. He is the undisputed market leader in pub transactions in Queensland,” he added.
Simpson said the pub transaction market has been strong in Sydney and Melbourne, with relatively fewer transactions in Brisbane.
“Now that many of the pubs have traded in the southern markets, the focus of both domestic and international capital is shifting to the Queensland market where pubs are showing robust returns with further growth forecast. The timing of this team acquisition means Savills is poised to capitalise on this next wave of growth and transactions” he continued.
Savills CEO Paul Craig said this as another important step in Savills’ aggressive growth strategy to further diversify its service offering into a wider asset class as more capital continues to seek a home in property.
“The recent success of our hotels platform and newly formed student accommodation business lines are great examples of this and retirement living and aged care will also be targeted growth areas for the group,” Craig said.
Australian Property Journal