Wobbly Kea property may be feather in buyer's cap

The Wobbly Kea Café and Bar is at Arthurs Pass in the heart of the Southern Alps.

The land and buildings leased to the Wobbly Kea Cafe and Bar in Arthurs Pass in the heart of the Southern Alps has been placed on the market for sale.

"This is one of few businesses of its kind in the area that services both locals and visitors," says Kate Mullins of Bayleys Canterbury who, with colleague Peter Harris, is marketing the freehold property for an asking price of $760,000 plus GST if any.

Situated on State Highway 73 connecting Christchurch to the West Coast, the buildings are leased to the cafe and restaurant business for a five-year term commencing November 2003 for annual rent of $65,000 plus GST. The lease has two five-year rights of renewal and a final expiry date of November 2018.

"This is an opportunity to invest in a passive investment returning more than eight per cent. Given the Official Cash Rate this is an investment offering a higher return than the banks," Mullins says.

She says the Wobbly Kea Cafe and Bar offers customers food and drink in a comfortable environment surrounded by natural mountain beauty.

Set on an 890 square metre site, the cafe and bar have a prominent location on the main route between Canterbury and the West Coast at the centre of the alpine village.

The restaurant offers full breakfast, lunch and dinner menus in addition to cabinet food. The fully stocked bar has an extensive range of drinks including New Zealand wines and beers, imported spirits and ales..

Mullins says the cafe and bar and is open every night and has a warm and inviting feel, with a large gas fire keeping up to 50 indoor customers cosy during the winter months. "There is outdoor seating to the rear of the building and in the summer months tables are also used outside in front of the cafe."

Surrounded by stunning natural scenery and with a convenient location within Arthurs Pass village, the Wobbly Kea also hosts private functions and events. It has a large pull-down screen for special sports events along with an overhead projector and stereo system.

Twin garages provide ample storage and refrigeration, with a two bedroom flat above the restaurant kitchen. Heating is via a Bosky coal fired water heater burner and radiators through the pubic area, in addition to a heat pump and gas fire. A car park to the side of the building provides off street parking for customers.

Several chattels will be part of the sale including, kitchen benches, sinks, and shelving, a gas fire, stereo system, heat pump, the Bosky coal fired water heater and radiators and historic Coberger wall-mounted skis and ice axe set.

Mullins says the property originally belonged to the Cobergers, a well-known mountaineering and skiing family.

"German immigrants Oscar and Dagmar Coberger, raised their family and established a successful business from the premises, providing skiing lessons, mountain guiding, and importing climbing and skiing equipment," she says.

One of the couple's children, Antony, had three children of his own, all of whom have taken up the family sport and skied to a top level. "Arguably the best known of them is his youngest daughter, Annelise. In 1992 she became the first athlete from the Southern Hemisphere to win a medal at the Winter Olympics when she won silver in the slalom at Albertville in France. Her achievements helped to grow the popularity of alpine skiing and put New Zealand on the map as a skiing destination."

Since the Coberger family sold the property in 1988 it been extensively renovated including in the 1990s when a cafe was incorporated into the premises.

"Further renovations since then have included the addition of a septic tank and soakage system, new timber and steel beams and foundations. Most recently, in 2013, most of the wall claddings on the front of the café were replaced along with some internal framing, windows, double glazing and insulation."

Mullins says the cafe, bar and restaurant property offers a buyer the opportunity to take over a tenanted investment with the operator having an established reputation in a popular tourism destination.