- The Carisbrook Hotel in Dunedin closed in 2023 due to financial pressures and dwindling patrons.
- The building is for sale at $750,000, but has significant damage and a low earthquake rating.
- A new owner could renovate or develop the site, which has potential for medium-density development.
A South Island pub that succumbed to financial pressures after serving pints for 162 years is looking for a new owner.
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The Carisbrook Hotel, a once-legendary Dunedin watering hole for rugby and cricket fans, was closed in 2023 after the price of beer took its toll on profit margins and crowds dwindled to a handful of diehard patrons.
The building, on the corner of South Road and Law Street, in Caversham, has since fallen into disrepair, with the current owner looking to offload it for $750,000 plus GST, if any.
Harcourts agent Jim Packer said in his listing that the property “must sell”, although he admitted to OneRoof that it was not a purchase for the faint-hearted.
He said that people had broken into the building and caused significant damage. The top storey, where the pub bedrooms are located, was in poor condition, and Packer referred to the hotel’s chequered recent past.
The pub has a chequered past and is in need of a makeover. Photo / Supplied
In 2023, the Government said the Carisbrook Hotel was “not a suitable option” for emergency accommodation and that the Ministry of Social Development had stopped referring homeless people to its rooms.
Photos from that time showed rooms with no beds, no heaters and no cooking facilities.
Packer said that after the accommodation provider closed its doors, people had broken into the building and caused significant damage. The police had moved those people on and had done a good job of keeping them out since, he added.
In its heyday, the hotel was legendary on game days, thanks to its proximity to Carisbrook Stadium, aka the “House of Pain”.
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Packer said a new owner could reopen the building as a pub, noting that most of the necessary basics to trade were still in place.
The agent had his first pint in the pub around 1982, having moved down from Canterbury to Dunedin for work, and he told OneRoof that the pub was always packed to the rafters on game days back then.
“The pub roared when there was rugby. Carisbrook [stadium] was just around the corner. You’d go and have a jug, and the place was full, full, full. We didn’t have numbers in those days. People were packed in like sardines. You had to push to get to the bar. Like, really push. Everybody was always friendly and having what we called fun,” Packer said. “Giving each other heaps.”
Famous ex-All Blacks and Black Caps players, as well as local Otago heroes, would sometimes show their faces, Packer said.
Packer said the hotel site had potential for buyers because of its location. “We’re right on the verge of South Dunedin, where it can get quite wet. But this is on a rise, 8m to 10m above sea level, so it’s dry. It’s a lovely site. This was the old South Road, the main road taking you right into town.”
Carterton’s Taratahi Hotel, which comes with a mini-golf course, is also listed for sale. Photo / Supplied
A new owner could either renovate the hotel or demolish it and develop the site. The corner 945sqm freehold site has residential 2 zoning, which allows for medium-density development. “It could be a pub if somebody wanted it to be, but it’d cost money to do it, that’s all. Upstairs, it’s traditional accommodation. Old pub rooms. Twelve to 15 square metres. Single bed. Hand basin.”
An example of what could be done with old pubs in Dunedin was the Empire Hotel in Princes Street, Packer said. “It’s now into apartments. It’s been totally renovated. It’s gorgeous.”
The issue with renovation, however, would be that the building only has a 20% earthquake rating, Packer said. “Any developer’s got to be aware of that.”
Another slice of New Zealand’s “legendary” drinking past is up for grabs in Carterton.
The former Taratahi Hotel, at 3258 SH2, is listed for sale under the tagline “6 O’Clock Swill”, referring to a 50-year period in New Zealand history when pubs closed at 6pm, and workers tried to down as much as they could before being shown the door.
Ray White agents Damien Pivac and Lisa Cumming said in their listing that the 10-bedroom, four-bathroom building was “rich in history" and offerred “space, character and opportunity in equal measure. With multiple rooms, two bars, extensive parking, and the historic site where Carterton itself was named, the story here runs deep.
“Add in the mini putt course, sprawling grounds and classic country pub charm, and you have a property ready for its next chapter.”
According to reports, it was once Wairarapa’s first licensed brothel, though its tenure was short-lived. The Cottage of Content, at the Taratahi Hotel, shut less than nine months after it opened, with the then licence owner telling the media that business wasn’t good, and that it had faced opposition from church groups.
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