Newcastle's Rum Diary Bar has closed and its 529 Hunter Street location has new owners.
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Preferring to keep their identities confidential for now, the new owners told the Newcastle Herald they will share their plans for the site "in a couple of weeks' time".
Previous owner and commercial realtor Adam Leacy sold 529 Hunter Street to embark on an overseas adventure with his family and says he is looking forward to a much-needed change of pace.
He is national director at Commercial Collective, which has offices in Newcastle and Maitland.
"I've sold out of Commercial Collective as well," he said.
"We decided the time was right to take our daughter abroad and she's enrolled in an international school in Majorca, Spain.
"We started three businesses during Covid-19, including the bar (where I was the major shareholder), and it is time to have a rest. A reset, if you like. I can't wait."
The Rum Diary Bar Newcastle was named regional bar of the year at the 2021 Australian Bar Awards and is a finalist in the rum bar of the year category at this year's Bar Awards.
"I was caught between a rock and a hard place there," Mr Leacy said.
"An award would have been great but I'm going overseas next week and couldn't keep managing the bar's operations from afar ... in any event, I know what the new owners plan to do there is going to be amazing."
Mr Leacy, whose business is selling and leasing venues, said many hospitality venues were continuing to struggle in the aftermath of Covid-19 lockdowns and restrictions.
"During Covid downtime, hospitality businesses were still forced to pay their BAS bills even though they weren't making money and so what has occurred is, a lot of those businesses have gone belly up," he said.
"It's a hangover from the compounding interest on a BAS bill and unfortunately it's broken a lot of businesses.
"There is the potential for more to fall, too. You've got interest rates where they are now and you're trying to trade yet people can't afford to come and visit your venue.
"It's tough out there."
The Rum Diary Bar in Melbourne closed earlier this week after 10 years in business.
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