Glenn Piper has quickly amassed a pub portfolio of stunning beachfront venues and has added the long-standing clifftop watering hole to this list for $9.5 million.

Speaking to the Mercury, Mr Piper said he was drawn to the site due to its heritage and family connections to the region.

"The Scarborough Hotel is one of the few venues which sits in such a dramatic landscape on the Australian coastline, and they don't come up for sale too often," he said.

The former international beach volleyball player has burst onto the pub scene with acquisitions of eye-catching venues such as the Harbord Hotel on Sydney's Northern Beaches, The Beach Hotel at Merewether Beach in Newcastle and Q Station, the former quarantine station at North Head.

In 2022, Mr Piper also purchased the leasehold of Hook Island in the Whitsundays where he will build a "barefoot luxury" resort.

The mad Dragon's supporter whose grandfather Cyril 'Zipper' Holt played for the team in the 1930s and '40s hinted at "enhancements" that were to come, but said any future patron would be welcomed into an authentic experience that showcased the heritage of the venue.

"There are legendary previous publicans who owned and operated the venue, some of them female, so we'd love to hero some of the legends of the past that gave us the Scarborough Hotel."

Selling agent Simon Kersten of Colliers Wollongong said the campaign had attracted "genuinely national inquiries".

"We had huge amounts of inquiries and a lot of people were really romantically interested in the building, the history, the view and the location," he said.

Mr Kersten said the pub was somewhat unique as it was leased to an operator who will remain in the venue until mid next year and did not have any poker machines.

"It's not one of those high volume pubs, it's very much a hospitality venue."

Built in 1886 for Alfred and Sarah Broadhead, the pub was named after the eponymous English village and the nearby town of South Clifton was renamed in 1903 after the hotel.

While the pub no longer sports the balcony and verandah seen in heritage pictures of the hotel, the structure remains largely intact, with many original features.

The pub was owned by the Broadhead/Lindsay family until the 1930s, when it was purchased by brewers Tooth and Co.

After changing hands in the 1980s, Mr Gordon purchased the pub in 1986 and has held it since then.

Mr Kersten said it was a coincidence that two major sales of Mr Gordon's property portfolio occurred within weeks of each other, with the WIN Grand site sold to Sydney-based developer Level 33 in March, as the two properties had very different trajectories.

"It was an opportunity to reinvigorate the property, and decisions were made a really long time ago that this would be the right time to do it."

Mr Piper said long term the plan was to operate the venue directly, drawing inspiration from the local community.

"We want it to be a memorable experience for all our patrons that come though, making sure those heritage elements and fabrics are being celebrated.

"As they step out into the beer garden and take in the view, our job will be to provide the food and beverages at a world class standard so the patrons can really soak up the atmosphere and the scenery," he said.

"What people can expect for Scarborough is that it'll be authentic to the area and a flagship for the Illawarra."