June 10, 2026 Community & Social Infrastructure

A Commercial Mortgage Guide for Private Members Club Owners

Buying the clubhouse your members already call home is a defining step for any club committee or operator. At Ardent Capital Group we speak with club operators about this kind of commercial property purchase often, so this guide walks through how a lender reads a members club, the deposit to plan for, and the structures that keep the finance clean.

Ardent Capital Group is a specialist in commercial mortgages for private members club operators across Australia. Our team can help you move from tenant to owner, and give you clear lending advice on structure and strategy.

Funding capacity: Access finance from $100,000 to $10,000,000+, including strata titles and freehold sites.
Track record: Helped facilitate over $500,000,000 in funding over the past decade for 1,000+ borrowers.
Coverage: Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide, Canberra, Hobart and surrounding regional towns.
Structured lending: Loans aligned to trusts, companies and SMSFs, with leases back to your trading entity.

We handle a club property loan end to end, from lender selection through to settlement.

What ownership gives a private members club operator

A club's value is bound to its address. Your members choose you for access, privacy and amenity. Owning the premises lets you control fit-out quality, opening hours, acoustic standards and future refurbishment without landlord constraints.

Fit-out is capital intensive. Premium bars, kitchens, wine storage, cigar rooms, private dining, soundproofing, access control, high-end furnishings and custom joinery typically run into seven figures. Spreading that investment across a long ownership horizon improves payback.

Revenue resilience supports ownership. Membership dues, joining fees, locker rentals, room hire, corporate memberships and events create diversified cash flow. Mortgage repayments build an owned asset rather than funding rent escalations.

Main drivers club operators cite:

Control: Remodel, expand or reconfigure without negotiating make-good and approval cycles that slow service upgrades.
Brand and member retention: An iconic address becomes part of the proposition, lifting retention and referral value.
Cost visibility: Replace unpredictable rent reviews with a known mortgage and planned capex cycle.
Equity growth: Repayments build equity that can support future expansions or a second site.
Licensing continuity: Owning the title can simplify licence renewals and reduce landlord-related licensing risks.

When buying may not suit:

A short planning horizon, such as a known relocation, an experimental concept, or a building slated for redevelopment.
Capital is better deployed to membership acquisition, executive hires or a flagship refurbishment that moves the dial faster.
Site risks that limit future use, such as heritage constraints, noise curfews or parking shortfalls that reduce future buyer depth. The decision sits with you.

How a private members club purchase is funded

Deposit and LVR. How a clubhouse gears depends on how specialised the premises are. A well-located building a lender can see broad commercial use in gears up to 80 per cent for an owner-occupier, so the deposit can start near 20 per cent plus costs. Where the value leans heavily on a liquor licence, gaming entitlements or a single-use fit-out, the lender is more conservative and the deposit is larger. In limited cases a 100 per cent loan-to-value ratio is possible by adding director residential property or a term deposit as additional security, and our broker team can walk you through when that fits.

Loan term and structure. Terms commonly run 10 to 15 years with a bank and out to 25 to 30 years with a non-bank lender. Repayments can be principal and interest for steady equity build, or interest only for a period where the priority is a staged refurbishment or an expansion.

Security and serviceability. The property is primary security. Lenders review audited financials, management accounts, membership metrics, event bookings, and cash flow forecasts. They will test repayment coverage under higher interest rate settings and normalised margins on food and beverage.

Owner-occupier treatment. Lenders generally view an owner-occupied purchase more favourably than a pure investment, as trading performance directly supports repayments and tenancy risk is reduced.

How the finance is typically structured

Many club operators already hold the premises in a separate entity and lease it back to the trading club at a commercial rent. Where that is the case, a lender reads the inter-entity lease as the serviceability line, so the rent, term, options, outgoings and make-good need to line up with the valuation and lender policy. A common arrangement a lender sees is a property trust or company as landlord with the operating club as tenant.

Ardent Capital Group maps the finance to whichever holding structure a club already uses, whether that is a property trust, a company title or a straightforward operator-owner set-up.

SMSF premises. Commercial club premises can qualify as business real property, which means an SMSF can hold the building and lease it back to the club at market rent supported by an independent appraisal. The trade-offs are real: lower LVR caps, a bare (custodian) trust that must exist before contracts are signed, no cross-collateralisation inside super, and stricter liquidity rules. Ardent arranges the finance and identifies which lenders will accept club premises as SMSF security and on what terms, while the fund's accountant and SMSF specialist confirm the contribution, tax and bare trust detail before contracts are exchanged.

What a lender looks at

Business financials: Three-year financials, management accounts, EBITDA quality, F&B gross margins, break-even membership count.
Serviceability: Debt service coverage using membership dues, joining fees, room hire and event income, tested under interest rate buffers.
Membership metrics: Total members, waitlist depth, churn, tenure, corporate membership mix and seasonality of renewals.
Property and valuation: Location, heritage overlays, acoustic compliance, liquor licence conditions, late-trade approvals, alternate use and resale depth.
Deposit and equity: Source of funds, ability to leverage your equity in other properties, cash reserves for fit-out and contingencies.
Lease and occupancy: Where opco-propco is used, arm's length lease terms that align with valuation assumptions and lender policy.

A specialist broker who understands private members clubs shortens the path to an approval that matches your operating model.

An illustrative scenario

This is an illustrative scenario that shows the kind of situation we can assist with, and how the thinking might run.

Situation: An established CBD club leases 900 sqm across two strata floors. Membership sits at 1,400 with a waitlist and steady corporate event revenue. The landlord proposes a rent reset to $520,000 plus outgoings, and the strata floor above is offered off-market for $6,200,000.
Objectives: Secure long-term control of the site, stage a kitchen and acoustic upgrade, and keep member fees stable for the next two years.
Options mapped:
- Buy one floor now, keep the lease on the second: an owner-occupier gearing toward the upper end where the space reads as broad commercial, with the deposit from retained profits plus a top-up secured against director residential property.
- Buy both floors: a more conservative blended gearing given the larger single-use footprint, higher stamp duty and fit-out cash, weighed against stronger long-term control and valuation upside.
- SMSF purchase of one floor: a lower LVR and higher liquidity buffers, with market rent set to service the SMSF loan and the trading entity keeping flexibility on the second-floor lease.
Structures a lender might see: a property trust with a corporate trustee, a company title holding, or an SMSF with a bare trust, each leasing to the club at market rent aligned to the valuation.
Serviceability view: under conservative interest rate settings, membership dues and contracted events cover repayments with headroom, leaving the fit-out funded from a separate facility.
How we would approach it: we would map the ranges, structures and repayments, for instance a senior mortgage around 70 per cent of value on the single floor with a period of interest only before principal and interest, alongside a separate fit-out line secured by the property and equipment. The figures here are illustrative, not confirmed outcomes, and depend on valuation and financial performance. The decision would stay with you.

Ways we can fund a private members club business

Asset finance for club equipment: Club equipment finance for commercial kitchens, premium bar systems, point-of-sale, cellaring, AV, access control and security, lockers and fitness gear where relevant.
Fit-out and refurbishment finance: Staged draw facilities for acoustic treatments, joinery, furniture, lighting and compliance upgrades.
Working capital loans: Working capital for a club to bridge membership drives, joining fee cycles and event seasonality.
Business overdraft: Flexible day-to-day liquidity to smooth supplier payments and stock purchases around peak functions.
Refinancing and debt consolidation: Combine multiple facilities into a simpler structure that supports serviceability and future capex.
Construction and renovation: Funding for combining strata lots, kitchen relocations, lift upgrades and bathroom expansions within heritage constraints.
Business or premises acquisition finance: Buy the freehold, add a neighbouring lot, or buy into an existing club entity or management rights.

Owning the premises can free equity for future upgrades, and a refinance can consolidate facilities to reduce friction across operations.

How Ardent helps private members club buyers

Ardent Capital Group arranges commercial mortgages for private members club operators. We structure the finance around how you intend to hold and occupy the property, then align the loan terms, covenants and lease settings to how the club actually trades.

This is the kind of purchase where the structure and the strategy matter as much as the rate. We give business owners clear advice on both, so the finance supports the wealth you are building and the years ahead, not just this settlement. We service Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Gold Coast, Perth, Adelaide, Canberra and surrounding metro and regional areas, and have helped facilitate over $500,000,000 in funding across a decade for more than 1,000 borrowers. If you are weighing up a clubhouse purchase, we would be glad to talk it through.

Questions worth asking

What deposit do I need to buy a clubhouse property? Plan for a deposit from around 20 per cent for an owner-occupier where the premises read as broad commercial, and more where the value leans on a liquor licence, gaming or a single-use fit-out. Additional property security or guarantees can lift the gearing.

Can membership dues be used to assess serviceability? Yes, lenders include recurring membership fees, joining fees and contracted event income, adjusted for churn, renewal schedules and conservative margin settings.

Is an SMSF allowed to buy the premises and lease it to my club? Generally yes, where the property qualifies as business real property and the lease is at market rent. Expect lower LVRs and stricter liquidity buffers.

Do lenders treat an owner-occupied club differently to an investment property? Owner-occupied purchases usually test better on risk, as trading performance supports repayments and tenancy risk is contained within your group.

How do liquor licence and noise conditions affect valuation and lending? Licence conditions, trading hours and acoustic compliance influence both valuation and lender appetite, as they affect patron capacity, revenue and alternate use.

Can goodwill or memberships secure the loan? No, lenders take property as primary security. Equipment and fit-out can support ancillary facilities, subject to valuation.

Written by

Nick Chong

Managing Director, M.AppFin, Dip. Mortgage Mgmt

Nick holds a Bachelor of Agricultural Economics, a Master of Applied Finance and an Advanced Diploma in Financial Planning. He founded Ardent Capital in 2016 after more than a decade in financial planning and mortgage broking. For the past ten years he has led a team of finance specialists, mortgage advisers, brokers and credit analysts, all working to secure optimal outcomes for clients and always acting in their best interests. The team brings both a qualitative and a quantitative approach to every deal.