After off-loading five hotels earlier this year, Solotel has acquired the Courthouse Hotel in Sydney’s inner west for around $24 million.

Owned by Brian Dooley SC, the sale to Solotel was brokered by agents Andrew Jolliffe, Dan Dragicevich and Sam Handy from HTL Property.

“The Courthouse is a traditional pub that embodies everything good about the hospitality industry and the central role pubs play in communities across Australia,” said Jolliffe.

Most recently, Solotel put the Bridgeview Hotel in Willoughby on the market, following the sale of four venues to Australian Venue Co (AVC).

In a statement, Solotel said the combined the sales to AVC represented a “reset for the Solotel group into a smaller, sharper, Solomon family-led group with reinvestment planned in the remaining portfolio, as well as looking to grow in new bars and restaurants”.

Following this week’s purchase of the Courthouse Hotel, Solotel chief executive Elliot Solomon told the Australian Financial Review the strategy was about simplifying the company’s operating business and moving away from parts of the portfolio where it had less long-term ownership or control.

“The Courthouse purchase fits this strategy – it is a freehold acquisition and will be operated by Australian Venue Co as tenant, so it does not add the same operating complexity to Solotel,” he said.

“The head office changes reflected the smaller operating footprint of the group going forward, which has not changed.

“When the opportunity arose to acquire the freehold [of the Courthouse], we saw it as a strong long-term property and hospitality asset that aligned with our strategy of focusing on quality assets that we own.”

AVC will take over the tenancy of the Courthouse Hotel.