Tirau's Cabbage Tree cafe by sheep and dog

Cabbage Tree Cafe is at 38 Main Rd, Tirau. Photo / Supplied

The land and buildings housing a cafe opposite one of New Zealand's most best-known roadside attractions is now for sale.

The replica character building, housing Cabbage Tree Cafe, is diagonally opposite the famous corrugated iron Dog and Sheep buildings on State Highway 1 at Tirau.

"There's never a short of potential clientele at Tirau; it's such a popular stop-off on one of the main arterial routes linking Auckland, Hamilton and Tauranga," saysMike Swanson, of Bayleys Hamilton. "And how much more when located so near one of the most instantly recognisable structures in the country."

Swanson is marketing the property — at 38 Main Rd, Tirau — with his colleague Alex ten Hove. It will be auctioned at noon on March 7.

Designed in the early 20th century-style, the building was constructed in the 1990s.

The cafe has run from the site for only four years and the business is on lease through to 2023. It generates net rent of $40,836 plus GST per annum, with one further five-year right of renewal and rent reviews every two-years.

The 230sq m two-storey cafe building sits on about 462sq m of freehold land, which has been zoned Tirau Town Centre by South Waikato District Council.

Swanson says the building has a colonial-styled interior, with decor including wooden floorboards and a wooden bar service area. Outside, the busy food and beverage premises is encompassed by a distinctive wooden front deck; this features barrel tables and seating under the fretwork, plus substantial additional customer seating at street level.

He adds that cafe patrons have the option of parking at the rear of the premises, or an easier choice of using one of many unmetered parking spaces on both sides of the SH1, outside the venue.

"The building — which contains administration and staff amenity rooms in the upper-level — has been well maintained, both inside-and-outside," says Swanson.

"This has certainly benefited the tenant by making it an attractive and popular venue for visitors to patronise."