Pub with musical bent wants to keep rockin'

Waihi Beach's 60s-style Kiwi pub, known for live music performances, is on the market for just the fourth time in its 42-year trading history.

Brendon Bradley of Bayleys Tauranga is marketing the Waihi Beach Hotel at the gateway to the Coromandel as a freehold going-concern with land, buildings and business ahead of the deadline private treaty sale date of May 21.

Bradley says the current syndicate partnership which owns the hotel is being dissolved resulting in the sale of the well-established and multi-faceted operation.

"Waihi Beach Hotel Holdings Company has a board of four directors who control the strategic management of the property and the business is well set up for an owner-operator to manage. It has shown steady growth in gross sales over the past two years," Bradley says.

The standalone property was developed in 1967 and began trading as a hotel the following year. It is located on the seaward side of Wilson Rd, 400m north of the main shopping area and 10km from Waihi township. It is the only hotel and TAB facility at Waihi Beach and the sole big-band venue on this coast.

On 6813sq m of flat land, the hotel operation comprises the single-level main hotel building with a floor area of 895sq m plus deck areas, along with an adjacent eight-studio accommodation block.

The TAB alcove, sports bar and lounge bar are accessed off the main entrance lobby with a sports/garden bar at the northern end of the premises.

The lounge bar includes a gaming lounge with 13 machines while the large band bar with stage doubles as a function room for special events.

"This bar caters for up to 500 patrons and is famous for the bands that it regularly attracts here," says Bradley.

A bottle store operating under The Shed Liquor Store brand is located at the rear of the property adjacent to bulk store facilities and a service area.

The Sandbar Restaurant and Grill offers a bistro menu is currently leased out to an independent operator for an annual rental plus GST and OPEX.

"The restaurant operator has just completed his first term of the lease and has indicated that he will not be continuing, which provides the option for a new owner to retain the restaurant as part of the hotel's operations or to contract it out," says Bradley.

The eight studio units provide budget accommodation with a double and a single bed in each room and en suite bathroom facilities. "The units are considered clean and comfortable although fairly basic and the $90 per night tariff is negotiable during the off-season," says Bradley.

The hotel's biggest claim to fame is the annual Christmas-New Year line-up of significant national and international acts which perform under a "big top" tent erected especially for the events and attracting over 2000 people per concert.

"The hotel supplies accommodation, meals, beverages and security plus sells tickets on a commission basis, while the entertainment/promotions company for the artists organises and supplies the big top, stage, generators, lighting and security fencing for the event," Bradley says.

Bradley says the Waihi Beach Hotel has done a superb job of promoting and publicising the events and its website www.beachpub@xtra.co.nz showcases forthcoming activities, highlights liquor store specials and features pub news.

"They also have a Facebook page which staff update and monitor for feedback, advertise monthly in the local newspaper and utilise road-side signage."

The complex offers numerous options for a new owner-operator including adding value by expanding the existing facilities, introducing a new pub restaurant operation, or redevelopment of the commercially zoned property.

"The site's long, rectangular shape and large road frontage should enhance its value for redevelopment in the future," says Bradley.

Waihi Beach draws in excess of 20,000 visitors each summer.

Visitors and tourists are attracted by 9km of sweeping white sand which is touted as one of the safest surf beaches in New Zealand.