By RUSSELL BENNETT
GEMBROOK locals just want their pub back.
There’s one hell of a hitch standing in the way of that happening though – a potential $1.5 million price tag.
Dozens of keen onlookers converged on the Ranges Hotel in Main Street last Wednesday afternoon for an auction that had the potential to spring the pub back to life.
But potential bidders were scared away by a $1 million asking price, which didn’t include another estimated $500,000 to get the pub up to scratch.
Auctioneer John Conway – the managing director of licensed estate agent, hotel-motel specialists and liquor industry consultants Conway Commercial – pulled no punches in outlining the cash injection that the pub would need “for a real Rolls Royce finish”.
“What needs to be spent on it – in our view from our 40 years in this business – to bring this to the standard it should be at, and that is a four-star standard of bar and food service… you’re looking at $450-500,000,” Mr Conway said in front of a packed function room at the pub, just prior to the start of the auction.
“There’s a big market for this hotel,” he said.
“The name of the game here is food and beverage, and catering functions.
“The opportunity is there for someone who is enterprising, has the money and has the desire to see a place like this come back to life.
“It’s a very busy road and a huge catchment area – this area is a very highly prized tourist precinct and can draw people from regional towns 20 to 30 kilometres away.”
Yet when it came time for potential bidders to raise their hands – nothing.
It was a body blow for a town desperate to see its pub to land in the right hands.
However Mr Conway remains optimistic that there will be a sale in the next couple of weeks, with interested parties keeping a close eye on the property since the auction.
