After seven good years, Britomart Country Club is closing its doors. The site is being developed in plans to be revealed late June. Photo / Supplied
After seven good years, Britomart Country Club is closing its doors. The site is being developed in plans to be revealed late June. Photo / Supplied
The Britomart Country Club has closed its doors after seven years, having garnered a reputation as a unique and popular Auckland CBD bar.
In 2010, The Britomart Country Club (BCC) was just a vacant parking lot, but the Britomart Hospitality Group saw promise in the site and came up with an ambitious vision - an indoor/outdoor garden bar.
"We also own 1885, the bar beside the Country Club, so we opened that business in September 2010 and while we worked through the process of building and opening 1885 we became interested in this vacant carpark beside it," said Nick McCaw of the Britomart Hospitality Group.
"So we dreamed up a scheme for it - take the carpark and create an indoor/outdoor garden bar using some containers and a bit of a scaffold roof."
The Britomart Country Club from the outside. Photo / Doug Sherring
McCaw said the opening of the BCC timed nicely with the 2011 Rugby World Cup.
"We did really well out of the Rugby World Cup, as did New Zealand and the whole of Auckland hospitality."
McCaw said the BCC was a breath of fresh air for Auckland's hospitality scene.
"At the time a lot of the hospitality in the city was kind of the same, so we had a petanque court, we had a putting green and we had high teas - it was really quite a unique experience for people and I think they responded quite well to that," he said.
McCaw said it captured people's attention and the combination of feeling like you're outside but still warm and dry, meant the bar became a popular spot for many.
"The Country Club had the one unique attribute where it didn't just attract a single type of person. It wasn't just suits, it wasn't just late night kids, it was a place for everybody and everyone felt really relaxed to be there," he said.
"It was great for Britomart. It came to Britomart at a time where it was just emerging as a place so I think the Country Club really helped the evolution of Britomart."
In the heart of downtown Auckland, Britomart Country Club had an outdoor feel without being exposed to the elements. Photo / Supplied
The BCC announced on Facebook at the end of May that it would be closing.
"I think people are a bit sad. People take good hospitality for granted a little bit and they just expect the good ones will always be there. So heaps of people have been coming down for a last drink," McCaw said.
He said it's great to close a hospitality business on a high, as is the case with the BCC.
It is unclear what will be replacing the BCC on the site, but Cooper and Company are developing the site.
"I've heard some bits and pieces of their plans and it will be very exciting for the city and Britomart, if their past history is anything to go by," McCaw said.
Leasing Director at Cooper and Company Jeremy Priddy said information about the site's development will be released late June,
"We're not quite ready to go public with it at this stage but the new building is going to be constructed on the site and the heritage buildings around it will be retained," Priddy said.
