After 43 years at CRE, Kevin Connolly is One of Australia’s Most Experienced Hospitality Brokers
After 43 years at CRE, Kevin Connolly is One of Australia’s Most Experienced Hospitality Brokers
Veteran broker Kevin Connolly’s early immersion into the world of hospitality couldn’t have started any earlier. He was born at the Three Crowns Hotel in North Melbourne, which his parents owned and operated at the time (and also explains his lifetime devotion to the North Melbourne Football Club).
From that start, the majority of Kevin’s career has revolved around real estate and businesses in the hospitality industry.
Background & Path into Broking
Kevin’s career began in 1978 as a property valuer. After qualifying, he spent a short period in residential real estate but quickly realised it wasn’t the right fit. As he puts it, he “wasn’t cut out” for that side of the industry. His interests naturally shifted toward commercial property and business sales.
Alongside his brother Peter, who had operated a leasehold motel in St Kilda the pair moved into motel broking. That was around 30 years ago, and over time their focus expanded to include hotels and caravan parks across Victoria, southern New South Wales and Tasmania.
As the business grew, Peter retired and Kevin brought in other Directors including Craig Clark from Queensland. This allowed Kevin to concentrate on the Melbourne–Sydney corridor while Craig covered Queensland through to Sydney. Today, as a Director at CRE Brokers, Kevin holds licenses across Victoria, NSW, Tasmania and South Australia, reflecting the broad geographic reach of his work.
Positioning as Hospitality Specialists
Today, CRE Brokers clearly positions itself not as a general real estate firm but as a business broker specialising in hospitality venues.
Kevin puts it plainly: “A business broker that sells … both the business and freehold property, but primarily we are business brokers.” He makes no attempt to pursue general commercial real estate (factories, offices, etc), emphasising instead motels, hotels, licensed venues and caravan parks. It's a niche-led model with the freehold property often sold with the business.
The CRE Brokers’ team mostly includes former owner-operators of pubs, motels and caravan parks. They’ve “been through the ups and downs that buyers and sellers have most likely gone through,” Kevin says. That lived experience gives our firm an edge.
Expertise & Point of Difference
What sets Kevin apart is a blend of valuation expertise, hospitality sector focus and decades of experience. He became a practising valuer in 1978 and a licensed agent-broker in 1982.
Now his relatively unique combination of skills has seen him engaged by various government and non-government parties needing sworn valuations, rental determinations and feasibility studies of tourism & leisure property, commercial and industrial assets.
But, when it comes to the sale of businesses, Kevin explains it simply, “The broker’s job is to put out bushfires between vendors and purchasers, and there are always bushfires. We’re the fire brigade.”
He emphasizes that it’s the post-offer stage, from due diligence through to settlement, where a broker truly earns their fee. That is their differentiator.
Kevin also flags digital disruption as possible future challenge to the industry.
“They’ve been talking about it for years. Brokers and Estate Agents risk is that a disruptor may want to start, because these days an increasing amount of the Brokers' and Agent’s work is sight unseen whilst buying and selling over the internet,” he explained.
However, Kevin remains confident that the human element, the experienced broker navigating through disputes and obstacles, will still matter.
Case Study: The $1.1 Billion Deal
When asked about a standout sale in Kevin’s 40-year career, he was quick to reply, “That would be the $1.1 billion sale of several caravan parks in one line to one buyer, which happened about two years ago.”
He candidly notes there were challenges with such a large sale. He said, “There are always challenges with every sale”, but it’s the broker’s steady hand, that helps to get the deal across the line.
But he acknowledges that “the smallest sale is still very important to us. We’re not chasing just the big sales because lots of little fish are very good as well. Most of our business sales range from a couple of hundred thousand to a million dollars, but it’s not unusual to have sales around $5 -$10 million.”
Market & Industry Insights
On the hospitality market in general, Kevin takes a measured view.
“Yes, we were very soft at the beginning of the 2025 calendar year, but as soon as the Federal election was concluded, everyone got back to business, as usually happens, and since then we’re back ticking along very well,” he confirmed.
As a broker covering the hospitality sector, he notes that people have to buy and sell regardless of whether the economy is booming or dipping “if the economy is good … we sell, and if the economy is bad, we still sell.”
Looking ahead, he sees ongoing demand for skilled brokers: “There’s always a need for a good business broker to be the in-between agent to make sure a deal goes through.
Once you’ve got an accepted offer, the broker usually needs to guide both parties through the due diligence period. Being able to provide sound advice to buyers and sellers comes from experience.”
Kevin observes that buyers usually have a preference for a specific type of hospitality business. “There are buyers who like accommodation, other buyers who like licensed venues and others who want cafe/food-service businesses. But generally, you could say that most buyers are entrepreneurs who want to improve the business and put their stamp on it”.
He notes the majority of vendors tend to be older, wanting to retire, while buyers are often in their 30s or 40s. He says you don’t see many 20-year-olds taking on a caravan park unless they come from that background.
Future Goals & Reflection
Looking ahead, Kevin remains unwavering in his focus: maintaining CRE Brokers’ leadership in hospitality business sales, supporting operators and buyers, and laying the groundwork for the next generation. He notes, “ Nothing is more pleasing than seeing a business we sold thriving for the new owner”.
In a sector built on long-term relationships, trust and the ability to navigate complexity, it’s clear that Kevin plays the long game and is still very much in the game.
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