June 26, 2026 — 5:00amCapital GainPub baron Justin Hemmes’ empire just keeps getting bigger.The hospitality tzar successfully outbid three other buyers in a spirited auction to emerge the victor and snatch a former RSL club, The Barracks, to add to his booming Sydney city property holdings.Justin Hemmes turned up and bid in person at the auction.Tim BauerAfter turning up and bidding in person, he bought the former Combined Services RSL sub-Branch at 5-7 Barrack Street for $19 million.The property was formerly part of the City Tattersalls Club, with the basement used in WWII as the Stage Door Canteen for servicemen and women.The venue is near Hemmes’ Merivale CBD Hotel and other properties he has acquired in York Street for a new development. At the time it listed in late April, price expectations were about $15 million.The 341.5 square metre freehold site houses a building with ground floor hospitality, basement below and two levels above. The venue sold with vacant possession and the agents said much of the interest from buyers was around its potential to redevelop.The former Combined Services RSL sub-Branch at 5-7 Barrack Street sold for $19 million. RSL sub-branch president Bill Forsbey said the sale proceeds will go towards funding the advocacy, compensation, mental health, wellbeing, support, employment, sport, recreation, connection and other services veterans say they need most after leaving the service.“We are a charity for veterans,” Forsbey said. “That means our money goes to veterans, not into a rundown building. This sale puts $19 million to work for them.”Colliers’ agents James Cowan and Jack McGregor managed the deal.EVs and burritosBurritos and electric vehicles are on top of the list for many consumers in the current economic environment which has prompted two large lease deals.The ASX-listed Guzman y Gomez has signed a 170 sq m lease for an outlet at the Caringbah Pavilion, the new development underway by Conquest in Caringbah, in Sydney’s south.Luxury four-wheel drive EV maker DENZA has inked a flagship five-year lease in Alexandria. Conquest is a private equity real estate firm with a $5 billion development pipeline across residential, retail, and hospitality in Sydney and London.While fit-out works for the Mexican restaurant chain are currently underway, the broader Caringbah Pavilion development is expected to open in the coming months.Meanwhile, luxury four-wheel drive EV maker DENZA has inked a flagship five-year lease in Alexandria, signing up for a prominent 720 sq m showroom at 61-63 O’Riordan Street.The site has frontage to Doody Street and major exposure to O’Riordan Street, positioning the Chinese brand alongside established luxury marques including Bentley, Range Rover, Rolls-Royce and BYD.William Gathercole from RWC Industrial City South advised on the lease and said the transaction was the fifth major deal he had done with an EV occupier this year.Big bus dealGlobal tourism operator Big Bus Tours, which runs City Sightseeing, is selling its industrial property in Banksmeadow with price expectations around $9 million.Big Bus wants to lease back the site to continue its operations under a 10-year agreement with two five-year options. The site currently generates a net passing income of $500,000 a year.The site has a 546 sq m two-level office and a 1403 sq m open warehouse. Colliers agents Billy Marsh and Trent Gallagher are advising on the sale.Pub dealsPub investors Redcape have swooped on the leasehold of the Arthouse pub, taking over from hotelier Ben McBeath who operated the venue for 26 years.The pub, in The Galleries retail precinct on Pitt Street, has a 24-hour liquor license, 21 gaming machines and annual revenue of $8 million. No price was disclosed but in late April it had expectations around $6.5 million.McBeath’s portfolio includes the Great Northern and TreeHouse Hotel in North Sydney. HTL’s Dan Dragicevich and Sam Handy handled the sale.Hotelier Ben McBeath has sold the Arthouse Hotel lease. In inner west Petersham, the Oxford Tavern, once a well-known dive bar, is for sale through receivers and managers Cameron Gray and Adam Shepard from HM Advisory.Bar group Odd Culture took the reins of The Tav in 2019, did a refurbishment and reopened a year later. Post COVID, they decided not to renew the lease and it’s been vacant for the last three years.HTL’s Sam Handy and Blake Edwards are steering the sale.Belrose callingA 5358 sq m commercial property with surplus land for potential development in the tightly-held Northern Beaches has sold for $5.15 million.The single-level, commercial building at 11 Narabang Way in Belrose is split into two tenancies. It sold with a leaseback to the vendor, an entity related to civil, landscape and recycled supplier Benedict.The deal was negotiated by Knight Frank’s Mark Litwin and Anthony Pirrottina, alongside Pentagon Property’s Toby Silk.carolynannecummins@gmail.comThe Market Recap newsletter is a wrap of the day’s trading. 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