Club Metro in central Whanganui goes on market but owners keen to stick around

Club Metro has a rateable value of $1.82 million.

Whanganui’s Club Metro facility on Ridgway St is up for sale but the cash-strapped owners are keen to stay on as tenants.

Club president Michael Neho said the decision was made following an extraordinary meeting earlier this month, attended by about 100 people.

“Under our constitution, we required 75% of attendees to support it and there was an absolute majority on the night,” he said.

“What we want to do is sell, service all our debts and start to rebrand the club.”

When the Wanganui Cosmopolitan Club and the Wanganui RSA amalgamated to form Club Metro in late 2018, it was hoped the sale of the RSA building on St Hill St would take care of a $660,000 loan the Cosmopolitan Club had taken out for alterations at the Ridgway St site.

Speaking to the Chronicle in 2021, former Club Metro chairman Rod Hart said there was significantly less than that left by the time the debts of the clubs were combined.

Neho said previous committees ”for one reason or another” never managed to get the loan paid off, with the initial plan of using gaming machine revenue not eventuating.

The interest rate on the loan, which needed to be paid off as a whole, had risen to 11% this year, which was “really killing us”, he said.

Consultancy firm Cutting Edge had been brought on board to help with a new business plan.

“We are looking to find ways of being more inclusive of whānau in some way and try not to mirror the St Johns, Whanganui East and Castlecliff clubs.

“We want to become a destination and have our brand of club which appeals to younger people as well.”

Neho said current members also needed to be taken care of.

There are about 800 on the club’s database.

“We have pretty loyal RSA members here and we would like to encourage RSA members drinking at other clubs to return and participate.

“It’s their facility as much as Club Metro’s.”

An Anzac Day function at Club Metro in 2021. Photo / NZME

The generosity of several donors had kept the club afloat in recent months, lending enough money to see it through to a sale.

However, the kitchen had been shut, with the lessee “not able to make it work in the current financial environment”.

“That’s when you know you need to redesign yourself to be attractive for people to come along,” Neho said.

“Hospitality as a whole is suffering a bit at the moment though, it’s not just us.”

The property has a rateable value of $1.82 million, with a land area of 2149sq m.

Tenders close at 4pm on September 19.

Real estate agent Richard White said there was already a level of interest in the site and economic conditions for prospective buyers were improving.

“Main banks are competing amongst themselves with interest rates and while we aren’t seeing a lift in the market as such, we are seeing confidence returning for the people who normally operate in the market.

“They have been waiting around to know that when they do operate, the market is going to be like this or better going forward.”

The property had a restaurant, offices and a bar, “and down below there is another lounge area that opens out towards UCOL, which is underutilised”.

“This place has got a lot to offer an investor. The structure, the location and the scale of what is there makes it pretty damn attractive.”

Neho said a sale would allow the club to “spruce up” the interior, which was fairly well-used.

“The condition our club members supported was to continue to lease the club long-term. That gives a new buyer confidence that they’ll have a tenant in there.

“Hopefully, there’ll be a right of first refusal should the buyer wish to sell in the future.

“Our job would be to keep squirrelling away and make sure we have the funds to buy should the opportunity arise later down the track.”

White said it was his job to present all written offers put on the table, whether or not they involved keeping the club as a tenant.

“At the end of the day, it’s up to the members which direction they want to take.

“They’ve obviously got a definite preference and I’d love to see an investor with a bit of goodwill keep them on as a tenant.

“There is room for multiple clubs in the town and this one offers a point of difference to the rest.”

Mike Tweed is a multimedia journalist at the Whanganui Chronicle. Since starting in March 2020, he has dabbled in everything from sport to music. At present his focus is local government, primarily the Whanganui District Council.