29-year lease for Quarantine Station at Manly North Head sold to pub owner

A 29-year lease for the historic Quarantine Station at Manly North Head in Sydney has been acquired by a local pub owner.

Glenn Piper, who bought and transformed the nearby Harbord Hotel in Freshwater, will take over the Q Station lease, which runs until 2050, from current owner Mawland subject to formal approval from the National Parks & Wildlife Service (NPWS).

He expects to be onsite in February, when he will look at enhancing what is already in place, including refurbishing some of the hotel rooms, making more out of some of the unused buildings and improving F&B offerings.

Interest in the lease for the 30 hectare Sydney Harbour site was reported to be “intense” after it hit the market in October.

The lease was expected to fetch between $15 million and $20 million, however the price is yet to be disclosed.

Speaking to Sydney newspaper The Daily Telegraph, Piper stated “this is an incredibly special asset and I am absolutely thrilled to be given the opportunity to operate Q Station and enhance its offering.

“When the leasehold of the Q Station was put on the market, I immediately saw it as an extremely rare opportunity to acquire the rights to operate on a site of national significance.”

For the past 15 years the lease holders, the Mawland Group, has developed Q Station on the edge of the National Park into a popular venue, with historic guest cottages, accommodation, conference rooms, restaurants and ghost tours.

Q Station now looks set to offer a diverse mix of luxury hotel accommodation where arrive by water, corporate events and cafes and restaurants that attract a younger crowd.

Looking forward, Piper added “my approach to hospitality is to enhance a venue’s existing heritage values to create an authentic and unique offering inspired by the stories surrounding the venue.”

The North Head Quarantine Station was founded in the 1830s to protect NSW from those travelling to the colony with infectious diseases.

Images show the historic Q Station (top and below) and a hotel room on the site (middle). Supplied.