Gold rush themed accommodation units
New Zealand’s new-found focus on domestic tourism as a result of Covid19 related international travel restrictions has perfectly positioned a themed accommodation business on the market for sale.
Coromandel Cottages in the township of Coromandel on the western side of Coromandel Peninsula, is a freehold going concern business comprising nine one and two-bedroom self-contained accommodation units built in an 1800s replica style. The units feature verandah decking facing onto a communal central manicured grass lawn area.
The design and layout out of the cottages, as well as various antique industrial mining equipment and steel machinery parts located around the property, have all be instigated to replicate a pioneering miner’s compound. Located at 1737 Rings Road, the business also consists of a threebedroom owner/manager’s residence with office space.
Coromandel township traces its commercial-scale gold mining roots back to 1852 when a small find of alluvial gold was panned at Driving Creek just a few kilometres north of Coromandel Cottages. However, it wasn’t until 1867 that a bigger and more lucrative vein of gold was uncovered in quartz rock in the hillside overlooking the outer Firth of
Thames.
At its peak in 1898, Coromandel Town and its mining-focused economy sustained some 12,000 residents and 19 hotels. In 1900, the New Zealand Government opened the gold ore processing plant known as the
Coromandel Gold Stamper – which refined and smelted ore from 65 different mines in the Coromandel District.
The Coromandel Gold Stamper’s crushing equipment was powered by New Zealand's biggest working water wheel, and was the first dieselpowered gold processing plant in
New Zealand. It is this heritage that Coromandel Cottages has sought to replicate in its complex.
Guest shared amenities at the Coromandel Cottages property include a barbeque area, swimming pool, children’s playground, laundry and fish-smoker. Nightly rack rates at the venue range from $153 to $175. In the 2019/2020 financial year the business recorded an average occupancy rate of approximately 67 percent.
Now the 7,753 square metres of freehold land and 630 square metres of buildings at 1737 Rings Road, along with the going concern Coromandel Cottages business, are being marketed for sale at auction on July 16 jointly through Bayleys Hamilton and Bayleys Whitianga.
Salespeople Josh Smith of Bayleys Hamilton and Belinda Sammons of Bayleys Whitianga said that with New Zealand’s tourism sector now focused on servicing the domestic market, accommodation providers like Coromandel Cottages were in a position to benefit.
Sammons said that while the business was functioning well in its current format, there was also an opportunity to grow its revenue through the addition of more accommodation options.