Gantleys historic building and development land go on sale

Gantleys historic building and
development land go on the market

The land and building housing one of New Zealand's best restaurants - and the original home to Queenstown's first policeman - has been placed on the market for sale.

Historic Gantleys building at Arthur's Point just out of Queenstown sits on some 7046 square metres of land and has been home to Gantleys Restaurant for two decades ... a lifetime in the hectic hospitality industry.

The beautiful single-storey stone and wood structure was built in 1863 as a wayside inn during the Central Otago gold rush. The original owner and operator was Queenstown's first policeman, Patrick Gantley.

During the early 1900s the building fell into disrepair, and served as a hay barn and woolshed until 1967 when it was purchased and rebuilt in its present form. The present owners purchased the property in 1993 and carried out an extensive renovation and refurbishment.

The fine dining restaurant now occupies 410 square metres and consists of a full commercial kitchen, seating for up to 100 guests in either casual restaurant dining or formal function configurations, a wine cellar, bathrooms and back office space.

Gantleys Restaurant Ltd has a lease on the building and a total of 16 percent of the surrounding land through until 2019, generating rental of $75,000 + GST per annum. The remaining 84 percent of the land is available for immediate development.

The heritage-listed building and land are being marketed by Bayleys Queenstown with expressions of interest being taken until April 24. Bayleys Queenstown sales person David Fea said that with a high profile 120 metre street frontage on the road linking Queenstown with Coronet Peak skifield, the property could be further developed from its current single usage. The property is zoned for commercial, tourism, residential or visitor accommodation.

"Arthur's Point has evolved substantially as a Queenstown suburb over the last two decades. When Gantleys first opened for example, there was virtually no adjacent residential development. Now there are hundreds of homes," Mr Fea said.

"This gradual suburbanisation of Arthur's Point has in effect made the location more accessible for a clientele coming out from Queenstown. With the current rate of population growth, Arthur's Point will eventually become a stand alone suburb... with the various subsequent demands for more social and commercial amenities and services.

"With a Rural Visitor zoning allowing for a range of commercial activities, the vacant land on offer would support future developments such as boutique heritage-style accommodation units, a more casual ancillary licensed establishment offering a different selling point from that currently delivered at Gantleys, or boutique retail premises in keeping with the existing character building.

"There has been a suggestion that the land adjacent to the restaurant could be used to add new function facilities, allowing for larger functions/conferences or for two functions such as weddings or corporate events to be held simultaneously and catered for from the existing restaurant kitchen."

Gantleys Restaurant has won an Award of Excellence from USA's Wine Spectator magazine every year since 1996 for having "one of the most outstanding restaurant wine lists in the world." The restaurant is also a former winner of the Montana Food and Wine Challenge. The restaurant business is not part of this sale offering but it could be purchased separately subject to negotiation.

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