Top gig venue up for grabs

FROM Aussie rock and blues legends to hip-hop acts and international DJs, musicians from all walks of life have played the Republic Bar & Cafe — and now it is on the market.

Listed with McDevitt Property and Knight Frank, the iconic North Hobart pub will be sold by expression of interest.

The agents say it is too soon to comment on what sort of sum the property might fetch. However, they agree that the chance to purchase this business and property was a “fantastic opportunity”.

Knight Frank sales consultant John Blacklow described the Republic as among “Hobart’s premier entertainment pubs”.

“It has a long history of sustainable success,” he said.

“Plus, DAs are in place for courtyard improvements and a new first floor deck.

“Once completed, the hotel will go to another level.”

The pub is located on the corner of Burnett and Elizabeth streets on a 724sqm block about 1km north of the Hobart CBD.

The two-level building includes the main bar, dining areas, a large courtyard with awnings, a wine bar, first-floor function room and a board room.

It currently operates under management and trades seven days a week.

The first drinks were poured in 1831 when the pub was known as the Rose Hotel House. It was later called the Rose and Crown.

By the late 1930s it had been rebuilt as an art deco building and renamed again as The Empire Hotel, the name it carried until the mid-90s when it changed to the Republic Bar & Cafe.

The EOI period for the sale of 299 Elizabeth St, North Hobart freehold and business — to be sold together — will close at 4pm on October 10.

The property was last sold in 2010 for over $1 million, per CoreLogic data.

The Republic Bar is the third central Hobart pub/hotel to hit the market recently alongside The Central Hotel — currently under negotiation — and The Waratah, which was bought by the State Government to be converted into housing.