Three character pubs are highlights of portfolio, writes Colin Taylor
KEY POINTS:
A former Devonport bank is one of a number of landmark character pub buildings up for sale as part oaf Bayleys Realty Group's latest Total Property commercial and industrial portfolio.
The Patriot Hotel building, located in the heart of Devonport's retail precinct next to the Jackson's Museum. It was formerly a bank, with the BNZ occupying the site from 1926 until 1975. The bank initially leased the land from the Auckland Grammar School board and then the Crown before acquiring freehold title.
In more recent years, it has operated as a bar and restaurant building and was formerly the Bankhouse Restaurant and Alehouse. In 2004 it was established as The Patriot, an English-style pub and restaurant which is also a popular live music venue.
The Patriot has signed a new 10-year lease producing initial annual net rental income of $100,000, with two yearly rent reviews. The building is being auctioned on June 25.
Marketing agent Robert Platt, of Bayleys Auckland Central, says the building has considerable style and character. The street side of the building is in an Edwardian style with Corinthian column tops and an ornate plaster facade.
Platt says the inside space is almost in original condition and features polished kauri floors and a solid plaster roof with an ornate rosette above the bar.
The customer area incorporates the former bank vault and two open fireplaces with ornate timber surrounds and there is Flemish window glazing as well as stained glass windows on the western side of the building.
The freehold interest in Howick's landmark historic hotel, the Prospect of Howick, is also up for auction on the same day along with several other Total Property offerings.
Also marketed by Platt in conjunction with Mark Pittaway, of Bayleys Manukau, the hotel comes with a 12-year lease to Galway Enterprises running until 2018.
The property is producing net annual rental income of $292,000, with the first of its two-yearly rent reviews due in November this year.
A third historic hotal for sale is the former Fitzroy Hotel in central Auckland.
The Fitzroy building, now called Ashington House, is believed to be Auckland's oldest brick building and is up for mortgagee sale.
Southern Cross Building Society has appointed Bayleys Real Estate's Cameron Melhuish and Dominic Ong to market the property by tender, closing June 26.
Built in the mid 1850s, the 3-level 417sq m building is located on 453sq m of land on the corner of Wakefield St and Lyndock St.
The property has a contentious recent history with heritage campaigner Allan Matson battling to save the building, which has a Category One Historic Places Trust classification and an Auckland City Council Heritage B rating. It was initially destined for demolition to make way for a high-rise apartment building.
The property's owner, Winning Investments, has recently been granted an application for an extension of the demolition consent and permission to erect a 15-storey apartment building on the site, and a variation on that consent to change the structure to accommodate the historic building.
However, Melhuish says given current market conditions, which aren't particularly conducive to large-scale development, Bayleys is expecting most interest to come from owner occupiers or investors interested in refurbishing the building.
"Character space is one of the most buoyant sectors of the CBD market at present and is in strong demand from tenants and investors," Melhuish says.
Melhuish says there is a real opportunity to add value to Ashington House through refurbishment into character office space, a cafe or restaurant or any one of a number of similar uses permitted under the area's flexible zoning. The property is in two titles.
The three-storey building is thought to have been constructed around 1855 by William Parker, one of the Auckland's earliest brick-makers. Being prominently situated on the Symonds St ridge, it was popular as the last refreshment stop on the way home from town, opening for trade as the Harbour Heights and Family Hotel in late 1856 or early 1857.
It later became known as the Fitzroy Hotel, with one of its owners being pioneering New Zealand brewer Richard Seccombe, who established the Great Northern (later Lion) Brewery in Newmarket.
The Fitzroy played an important role in community life as a public house and for more formal events, such as public inquests, until the revocation of its licence in 1909 as a result of the rising power of the temperance movement.
During the first half of the 20th century, the building was used as a boarding house and later as a private hotel. From 1954 until 1961, the building was utilised by Pilgrim Press, which published the works of a number of New Zealand authors and then by Wakefield Press. During the 1980s, the building housed Auckland Metro and More magazines.
