Buyers wanted for country pub
The East Coast tavern was once named by Lonely Planet as being among New Zealand’s top small-town pubs. Julie Iles reports.
A seaside pub and hotel in the East Coast’s Tokomaru Bay is on the market.
The Te Puka Tavern was built in 1988, replacing a historic public house that had stood on the town’s shore since 1873.
Travel guide Lonely Planet named the pub among its Top 10 New Zealand country pubs in 2015 alongside the Cardrona Hotel in central Otago, the Whangamomona Hotel in Taranaki and the Gladstone Inn in the Wairarapa.
Tokomaru Bay is an increasingly popular summer tourist destination. It is home for
500 people year-round, but in the warmer months the town swells to six times that number and thousands more camp in the more remote bays and settlements.
The town was founded in the
1840s as a whaling station and later became a hub for sheep and beef exports. It is located about 90 kilometres north of Gisborne via State Highway 35.
Its harbour ceased operations in 1963 and the remains of its wharf and freezing works are considered ‘‘must see’’ attractions on the East Coast highway route.
The Tokomaru Bay Heritage Trust has been granted $100,000 from the Gisborne District Council for the $500,000 project to upgrade the and reinstate the wharf.
Bayleys Gisborne salesman Greg Robertson said the property was a ‘‘turn-key opportunity for any new business owner looking for a truly regional lifestyle’’.
Terraced studio apartments next to the pub were built in 2011.
The apartments have a nightly rate of $160 and an average occupancy rate of 82 per cent a year. There are also four powered parking spaces for campervans and caravans.
Robertson said the hotel was popular with pig and deer hunters, local fishermen and wedding parties.
The tavern also has a conference room that regularly hosts farming-related meetings and community groups.
‘‘The main tavern building is configured into three distinct spaces to cater for a broad spectrum of customer demographics,’’ he said.
The building is divided into three spaces: a main bar area; a restaurant; and covered decks overlooking the sea.
Behind the tavern was a twostorey, three-bedroom residence.
Robertson said the operational philosophies mirrored those of the wider East Coast population, with no gaming machines within the venue and initiatives to become ‘‘plastic-free’’.
The pub’s overseas owners have decided not to return to New Zealand, he said.
Tenders close on January 23.