Sydney Roosters chairman buys Brisbane’s Caxton Hotel for $50m

Brisbane’s Caxton Hotel has been bought for $50 million by the Sydney Roosters rugby league club’s billionaire chairman Nick Politis.

The iconic pub on the eponymous street, up the road from Suncorp Stadium, is a famous haunt on Broncos and State of Origin nights and had been owned by the Farquhar family for 28 years.

Despite being closely associated with the Eastern Sydney glamour club, Politis grew up in Queensland and owns several venues in the south-east.

On the Queensland government’s public registers and notices website there is a pending application from Eumundi Group – now owned by Politis’ SEQ Hospitality Group – to acquire the Petrie Terrace pub, but on Sunday Nine News confirmed the successful purchase.

After a $77 million bid in late 2024, SEQ Hospitality successfully took over Eumundi earlier this year.

SEQ Hospitality is part of Fortitudo Group, which owns The Queen’s Arms (QA) Hotel in Fortitude Valley, The Ambassador of Redcliffe and The Boathouse in Coomera, among other venues and bottle shops.

Eumundi’s venues include the Plough Inn at South Brisbane and Aspley Central Tavern.

Caxton Street is a popular hospitality precinct home to other popular venues such as the Beetson Hotel, Lord Alfred (LA) Hotel, Caxton Street Brewing Co and Lefty’s Old Time Music Hall.

Earlier this month it was revealed the NRL, which owns the Beetson Hotel (formerly Gambaro) across the road, plans to transform the rival venue into the “best sports bar in Australia” with an IMAX-style screen for live game broadcasts.

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