Former Wallabies front rower turned pub veteran Bill Young has scored a hit in Sydney’s burgeoning tech centre, snapping up the popular Bar Broadway, formerly known as Sutherlands Hotel, in inner-city Chippendale.

The sale price, which is in the high $30 millions, covers the leasehold and freehold of the long-standing two-storey business that occupies the prime corner at 2 Broadway.

The property has a long history of being a Tooth and Co pub and over the years has been known as the Westminster Hotel, Guys & Dolls Hotel, Sutherlands Hotel and most recently Bar Broadway.

Young’s purchase comes with a 24-hour hotel licence with 28 pokies, a bar and two levels of accommodation with 36 beds. A further opportunity to develop two additional upper floors, which would bring the bed inventory to 63, is also available.

The property was sold by JLL Hotels managing director, John Musca, senior vice president Ben McDonald and Knight Frank director Mike Wheatley on behalf of long-term vendors, one of whom, is retiring and the pursuing other commercial interests.

McDonald said the proximity of the pub to the Central Park development, Sydney’s new “Silicon Valley”, and Chinatown, indicates the “unabated capital appetite for this highly protected, intrinsically valuable asset-class”.

He said Atlassian, Dexus, TOGA and Frasers are all committed to the precinct with the NSW Government also spending close to $1 billion on upgrading Central Station - Sydney’s largest transport interchange.

“Well-located pubs will deliver perpetual earnings growth unlike any other real estate or business sector”, McDonald added.

The sale comes as the agents are selling the famous Oaks hotel in Neutral Bay with a price tag of $175 million, making it the largest deal for the sector. An array of pub moguls, such as Arthur Laundy and Justin Hemmes, to large-scale operators, including Charter Hall and MA Financial, which owns the Byron Bay pub, are all likely to run the ruler over the pub.