One of Sydney’s best known drinking holes has fallen into receivership and is on the market.
The Pickled Possum, in Neutral Bay, is being offered for sale by an expressions of interest campaign with a price guide of around $2.5million.
The popular lower north shore institution will be sold as a package including the building and the business.
The Pickled Possum has been a popular karaoke bar since 1981 and was named after possums that used to hang over the door frames.
It’s famous for its sticky carpets, dodgy décor, esky’s filled with beer and karaoke nights.
It was first owned by John Oseckas and Margurite Smith, who bought the building on Military Road in 2002 for $913,000.
The 164sqm site, which has a two-bedroom apartment upstairs, was purchased in 2021 by Robert Patterson who submitted plans to North Sydney Council for a 78-room boarding house which was refused in November 2024.
HTL Property is in charge of the sale and director Sam Handy said in a statement to Mosman Collective that ‘it will appeal to a broad range of hospitality buyer segments’.
The Pickled Possum, in Sydney’s lower north shore, has been a popular place for late night partying
The small venue is well-known for its late night karaoke
‘The Pickled Possum is a much-loved and cherished late-night bar that has entertained several generations of patrons,’ he said.
‘We anticipate intense interest in this asset given not only the sentimentality that is attached to it, but also its compelling underlying land, building and business fundamentals.’
Initial planning for an amalgamated site have been undertaken and are available for potential buyers.
The agents said the existing tenant was ‘extremely motivated to negotiate a new lease if the incoming owner is an investor seeking a passive income’.
The Pickled Possum is being sold with the campaign to close at 5pm on Thursday, August 7.
