Ex-All Blacks play pass the pub

Ron Urlich (left) bought the Wade Tavern from Buck Shelford with David Mayhew (right) "refereeing" the deal. Photo / Supplied

The historic Wade Tavern at Silverdale, north of Auckland, has developed close business links with rugby through its All Black owners Buck Shelford and Ron Urlich, and also North Harbour lock David Mayhew.

Former All Black captain Shelford sold the tavern to Urlich, who wore the black jersey between 1970-73, while Mayhew, a Jones Lang LaSalle sales broker, "refereed" the deal.

"It's taken a while for this property to come out of the scrum," says Urlich, who owned the Shakespeare Tavern & Brewery in Auckland's CBD for 14 years through the Urlich Family Trust. Urlich is now in the middle of a major redevelopment of the historic building to bring it back to its colonial roots.

The family trust leased the premises for several months while Shelford obtained resource consent to subdivide the tavern that now sits on a 2200sq m site.

Work on revamping the tavern started immediately as only the sports bar was operating. "There is demand for a hotel that has a nice family-orientated area that serves decent food, while retaining a sports bar," says Urlich.

The tavern restoration project will be finished early next year and Urlich says he may consider developing a micro-brewery for the premises similar to the operation at the Shakespeare Tavern.

The first conversion was six upper-floor hotel bedrooms into a comfortable three-bedroom apartment for his daughter Katrina and her partner Aaron Beech, who run the business.

Next to see the demolition hammer was the eastern side of the tavern, which had been closed for some years. The former dining room, lounge bar and kitchen are being opened up into one area containing a new bar, a summer house, outdoor terraces and a private function room.

The original fireplace has been uncovered and is being left as a feature. Boards and battens from the ceiling are being recycled to become part of the new bar and the original ceiling rose will be used in the redeveloped part of the building.

"There are no original drawings that we can work from," Urlich says. "We are researching what buildings would have looked like internally as well as externally in the late 1880s to make the tavern look as original as possible with dados, skirtings, a verandah and other features from the era."

As part of the sale to the Urlich Family Trust, Shelford subdivided the tavern from a 1.6ha site on the corner of Tavern Rd and Foundry Rd and the remaining 1.3ha is now available.

"The property is zoned industrial and is one of the biggest vacant freehold sites on the North Shore," says Mayhew.

Mayhew says the land would be suitable for a trade retail centre because it is where the majority of Silverdale's industrial land and heavy industrial zonings are located.

Originally built by the Weiti River in 1880, the Wade Tavern had 14 rooms with an imposing balcony and verandah. However, it was burnt down in the same year and rebuilt on the hill-top site it still occupies. Wade was then a working port for scows and the hotel was on the main route north for mail and passenger coaches.

Mayhew says the redevelopment of the tavern is a major bonus for Silverdale, which is projected to have a population of about 116,000 by 2021. To accommodate some of the growth, the Rodney District Council has a structure plan for Silverdale north that encompasses comprehensive residential and commercial expansion. Plans include a number of residential development areas of varying densities and 60ha of commercial land, coined the Knowledge Economy Zone, that will overlook the motorway near Wainui Rd.

Mayhew says there is speculation 200ha of general rural land bounded by Wilks Rd, the Northern Motorway and SH17 will be rezoned industrial.