infonews.co.nz
INDEX
REAL ESTATE

Slice of small-town New Zealand goes up for sale

Friday 24 June 2011, 9:02AM

By Bayleys

929 views

RANFURLY

An historic pub close to the famous Central Otago Rail Trail cycling and hiking route is on the market for sale – offering an opportunity to capitalise on one of New Zealand’s fastest growing tourism activities.

Patearoa Hotel in the hamlet of the same name is midway between Middlemarch and Ranfurly to the North-West of Dunedin and just a few kilometres from where the Central Otago Rail Trail tracks through the countryside. The pub in its current form dates from 1928 and is on the site of the original ‘hostellery’ - built by Thomas Newton in 1887 - which burnt down in 1927.

The quaint country hotel is the biggest accommodation provider in the district – with eight bedrooms within the main building, and a further seven chalets in its grounds targeted at budget travellers. The hotel also operates a 24-seat restaurant fully serviced by a commercial kitchen. The freehold hotel on 1.3 hectares of land has a rateable value of $310,000.

Patearoa Hotel is being marketed for sale by Bayleys Wanaka through a tender process closing on July 29. Bayleys Wanaka director Mat Andrews – who ironically lists one of his greatest claims to fame as being the Patearoa Golf Club’s 1988 intermediate-grade club champion - said the town was a pure slice of “how New Zealand used to be.”

“It’s the sort of place where everyone knows everyone…. and the Patearoa Hotel is the centre of all community activity,” Mr Andrews said.

“The demographics of the area have changed considerable over the past generation – with what was once a prosperous service town now seen more as a place to get away from it all – with a number of residences being used as weekend retreats for

Dunedin-ites.

“Most recently though, those same societal influences have seen the establishment of the Central Otago Rail Trail walking and cycling track which has been a boon to the region’s tourism and hospitality sectors. This is where the future of the Pataeroa Hotel lies.

“It also benefits from the growth of ice-related tourism in Naseby just a short drive away – where the town has the only natural ice luge in the Southern Hemisphere, and Australasia’s first indoor curling rink. Visitors to these attractions are regular guests staying at the hotel on their return journey to Dunedin.”
An independent report commissioned by the Central Otago District Council on the economic benefits of the 150 kilometre rail trail highlighted an opportunity for retail and entertainment providers to capitalise on cyclist numbers during their journeys.

“The lack and quality of food outlets (along the route) was commented on,” the report said. The research also found that the average rail trail rider spent 4.3 nights on the journey.

Mr Andrews said both of these comments represented opportunities for an entrepreneurial spirit to look at utilising the Patearoa Hotel to generate additional revenues on the back of providing upmarket café style food, the ability to accommodate guests at two price-points, and by looking at increasing ‘to-do’ activities around the region to entice rail trail tourists to stay longer.

Tourism attractions in the immediate Patearoa vicinity include the remnants of a gold digging operation – including mines and a former Chinese mining camp, as well as a walking track with views of unusual rock pillar formations. The town has one of the cheapest golf courses in New Zealand – with a round at the par 70 course costing just $15. And it has a bowling club – whose members play twice a week during the season.

“Owning the Patearoa Hotel is a lifestyle decision. For anyone wanting to get away from the likes of rush-hour traffic, living in an apartment with no back lawn, or stuck in an office block, this really is the chance to begin life anew,” Mr Andrews said.

“With some 100 homes in near radius of the pub, the new owners of this tight-knight community will become part of the local fabric straight away. For someone with a background in tourism marketing, the ability to link that Kiwi rural culture into the rail trail experience represents, as it did back in the 1800s, a real gold mine…..”