The new owners of the heritage-listed Scarborough Hotel have big plans for the pub, but we won’t see them do anything on the site until it officially changes hands in July 2025.
Glenn Piper, chief executive of Epochal Hotels, bought the landmark pub from WIN Corporation for $9.5 million in a deal that was announced on April 2.
The Scarborough Hotel is located on more than 3900 square metres of clifftop, oceanfront land. Before this sale, WIN had owned the now 138-year-old hotel, Wollongong’s oldest licensed venue, for 40 years.
Glenn says he’ll be “hands-on” in the pub’s development, while retaining its historical character.
“I definitely lead the design, the inspiration, the vision for the site, and I then engage experts to execute that: so from the food and beverage, executive chefs, external consultants for the design.”
Glenn says he’s always had a strong affinity with “the water and the ocean”, so the Scarborough Hotel is a natural fit for him and the team of silent investors behind this deal, some of whom are South Coast residents.
“Typically what I’m attracted to are these heritage buildings, which have been operating for decades, sometimes over a century, such as the Scarborough.
“Quite often they are the oldest building in the community. And what I’m passionate about is making sure the location and the format share and celebrate the history of the area. We don’t look for inspiration outside of the local community.
“Before we do anything, we actually engage a historian to feed us all the different stories and characters that we could potentially draw some inspiration from for the design, so then once we have that, we continue the process.
“We use that to inform the design, the food and beverage – all the way down to what the customers want, what the staff are wearing in their uniform selection…”
Epochal Hotels is in the very early stages of its pre-handover process, so Glenn is reluctant to hint at any potential upcoming design, themes or even menus for the Scarborough Hotel.
“There have been certain characters that have been quite prominent through that pub, or publicans that had a pretty big impact on not just the Scarborough, but throughout the area.
“We’re still early days, so we’re just collecting information at the moment.”
