Sydney’s Stonewall Hotel Has Been Quietly Acquired By A US-Based Company

Long‑established Sydney LGBTQIA+ venue The Stonewall Hotel on Oxford Street has been acquired by US‑based hospitality company Pride Holdings Group — formerly called Parliament House Enterprises Inc. — according to a seemingly uncirculated corporate press release.

In a press release published to their website on 9 July 2025, Pride Holdings Group (PHG) formally announced its acquisition of the Stonewall Hotel, describing the move as an expansion of their LGBTQ+ hospitality footprint.

Gay Sydney News was the first outlet to discover that Stonewall had been “quietly sold” to the US-based entity, and said on their social media pages that they uncovered the press release while working on an unrelated story. The press release of the announcement was also not sent to Star Observer.

The press release states that PHG intends to place the ‘Stonewall brand’ around Australia and Asia, and also said it intended to share the news of “4–5 new acquisitions” over the weeks following the July 9 announcement.

“When wanting to expand to Australia and Asia, we looked no further than acquiring the number one LGBTQ entertainment complex in Australia. That being, Stonewall Hotel on Oxford Street in Sydney,” said Michael Barrett, CEO of Pride Holdings Group, in the press release. 

“With this acquisition completed, we now intend to roll out the Stonewall brand across Australia and Asia. We are negotiating a rollout of the brand in this region.

“We will be advising the market of 4–5 new acquisitions over the coming weeks. Australia and Asia — Pride Holdings is coming!”

The press release does not state the financial terms of the sale or how much it was purchased for, nor whether changes will be made to Stonewall Hotel because of it. Star Observer has reached out to both Pride Holdings Group and Stonewall Hotel. 

About the new owner of the Stonewall Hotel, Pride Holdings Group

Pride Holdings Group is a US-based holding company managing bars, pubs, taverns, restaurants, hotels, nightclubs and live entertainment venues, with a significant interest in LGBTQIA+ nightlife.

The company owns a portfolio of LGBTQIA+ venues in the United States and has indicated a strategic ambition to become a major global operator within LGBTQIA+ nightlife and hospitality.

On the same day as the Stonewall Hotel press release, PHG also announced the acquisition of “iconic male entertainment” Johnsons Nightclub in the US, the acquisition of Aqua night club and bar, Birdcage cabaret, back bar, 22&co and Aquaplex Ft. Lauderdale (formerly Lipps) in Fort Lauderdale in the US, and the acquisition of a historic Italian castle located in the Piedmont region of northern Italy.

There have been no press releases about acquisitions in Australia or Asia since July 9, but did announce the appointment of Michael Barrett, a gay man with “more than 20 years of executive leadership and a lifelong commitment to the LGBTQ+ community”, as CEO on this same day.

Other people involved in Stonewall’s ownership are now listed on Pride Holdings Group’s website: Stonewall co-owner and director Richard Foo is now PHG’s Director of Asia Pacific (there is no date listed for this appointment) and fellow Stonewall director Craig Bell was appointed to PHG’s Board of Directors last month.

Dr. Albert W. Whitehead, the founder of Johnsons Nightclub in the US, which PHG also announced the acquisition of on July 9, has joined its ranks as Chair of its Board of Directors. PHG’s now-CEO Michael Barrett was the owner and CEO of Aquaplex Ft. Lauderdale (formerly Lipps), which PHG also acquired.

PHG is primarily controlled by Don Granatstein and Susan Unger, a heterosexual couple who famously purchased Orlando‘s Parliament House — a gay resort long beloved by the local community — in 1999 on the cusp of it being shut down, and spent millions of dollars renovating it. The former name of PHG — Parliament House Enterprises Inc. — is after this initial acquisition. 

“Susan was the real reason behind our purchase of the Parliament House.  We were operating the Debbie Reynolds Hotel in Las Vegas at the time. Being a part of the gay community there, we learned about the Parliament House through word of mouth,” Granatstein told Hotspots Magazine in 2012. “We hopped a flight to Orlando to tour the property and purchased it soon after.”

What does the US acquisition mean for the Stonewall Hotel? 

The Stonewall Hotel is a venue comprising multiple levels and bars. In operation since 1997, it is widely recognised as one of Sydney’s premier queer venues and an Oxford Street favourite from hosting drag shows nightly to being involved in Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras parties and curating Sydney Pride Month, and much more. 

But for clubgoers, patrons and community organisers, the takeover raises questions about how focus on local LGBTQIA+ nightlife and community will continue under new US-owned ownership.

While Stonewall did stop operating on Monday and Tuesday nights in winter just over a year ago, this was heavily due to the COVID-19 pandemic and redevelopments in the area significantly affecting foot traffic and Oxford Street partiers. While foot traffic has returned to the area somewhat, they have so far not started operating on these evenings again. 

The building housing the ground-level Diva Bar had been placed up for sale with a guide price of A$3.7 million in January this year — but Stonewall Hotel still retains the lease.

As of now (and as far as Star Observer can verify with no response/comment so far), Stonewall Hotel’s operations appear to continue uninterrupted under its current management. The press release provides no indication of immediate changes to staffing, programming or branding.

Star Observer did not receive any response to requests for comment from Pride Holdings Group, and Promotions & Marketing Manager for Stonewall Hotel Glenn Hansen declined to comment.