Country pubs ready for new start

It’s happy hour for buyers looking to snap up a country pub for a bargain  near Canberra.

The Elrington Hotel, at Majors Creek near Braidwood, and the Braidwood Hotel are listed for under $1 million each, and selling agent Gregory May of Raine & Horne Commercial Macarthur says both have regular trade and strong earning potential.

The Georgian-style Braidwood Hotel was built in 1859 and interest has come from potential buyers who have a nostalgic attachment to the venue, May says.

“It’s one of those establishments that locals and visitors have a real affinity for so inquiries have been from within New South Wales and the ACT,”  he says.

“The hotel requires a buyer who is willing to undertake a restoration project and run the hotel at the same time, as the venue has been lovingly but only partially restored.”

Five movies have been filmed in and around the pub and the town including The Year My Voice Broke, starring Noah Taylor and Ben Mendelsohn and Flirting, starring Nicole Kidman. Mick Jagger even visited the pub and shouted the bar during the 1969 filming of Ned Kelly in which he starred.

“The hotel attracts a lot of passing trade out of interest in the history of the building, its movie connections and its reputation as a foodie venue,” May says.

The hotel has four open fireplaces downstairs, a commercial kitchen, a 30-seat dining room on the ground level and a 30-seat dining room upstairs, new toilets and a pool room. Accommodation includes nine partially updated rooms.

The Elrington Hotel was built in 1914 and the pub attracts many tourists chasing family history due to the 1800s gold rush in the region, May says.

“The hotel has a regular trade of young families, retirees, tradesman and farmers, and also people who holiday in the area.” 

There are also bus and car club visits and accommodation bookings from cyclists as the hotel is on a well-travelled back road from Queanbeyan.

The hotel delivers a healthy 15 per cent return on investment that an astute buyer could build on through marketing and upgrading, May says.

The establishment has public and lounge bar areas, a commercial kitchen, dining room, pool table, accommodation and an owner/manager’s residence, which adjoins the pub.

The Braidwood Hotel is being sold as freehold and is listed for $795,000 while The Elrington Hotel is also being sold as freehold and is listed for $650,000-plus.

The Braidwood Hotel, 180 Wallace St, Braidwood.

The Elrington Hotel, 1 George Street, Majors Creek.