The C.inc hotel group, headed by Christopher Cheung, is close to securing a $27 million sale of the Kings Cross icon, The Bourbon Hotel.
It is being bought by the apartment developer and hotel operator Iris Capital's Sam Arnaout.
The Bourbon was marketed last October with having capacity for around 80 apartments (artist's impression below) with bar facilities at street level.
The Bourbon and the adjoining former Sydney Swans Club in Kings Cross had been listed after Cheung told the SMH the lockout laws in the inner city had influenced his decision to sell and focus on his other assets, including the Coogee Bay Hotel and Cruise Bar, Circular Quay.
No asking price was disclosed but more than $30 million was initially tipped for the November tender through JLL hotels national director John Musca and James Aroney.
They optimistically suggested the buyer would be "part of the area's Covent Garden/Soho transformation."
Cheung bought the Potts Point properties that sit on 6,300 square metres from the former ING Real Estate Entertainment Fund in 2010, after a hailstorm caused the roof of the Swans club to collapse.
Cheung spent about $10 million upgrading the landmark Bourbon hotel, which boasts 30 gaming machines and hotel licence with a separate $4 million realisation value.
The site was being marketed as potentially accommodating apartments, with retail and or a wine bar at street level.
The Bourbon arose from the ashes of the famed Bourbon and Beefsteak in The Cross.