- A deserted alpine lodge in Arthur’s Pass sold for $250,000, over $1m below its RV.
- Peter Whittaker and a West Coast restaurateur plan to reopen it as a tavern.
- The lodge features a dining room, commercial kitchen, bar, and 13 rooms, but needs significant work.
A deserted alpine lodge in Arthur’s Pass sold under the hammer last week for $250,000 – over $1m below its RV.
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The two-storey lodge on West Coast Road, which once operated as The Chalet, was snapped up by a hospitality expert last week after a brief tussle at a Bayleys auction.
Canterbury hospitality business owner Peter Whittaker, who owns The Rockpool and Bridies Bar & Bistro in Christchurch, teamed up with a West Coast restaurateur to buy the property and plans to re-open it as a tavern, The Press reported.
The original owners built the cafe in the 1960s before expanding it into a bar, restaurant and accommodation business. Photo / Supplied
The last business operating from the lodge closed about 10 years ago. Photo / Supplied
Bayleys listing agent Kate Mullins, who marketed the property with colleague Ben Deans, told OneRoof the sale price reflected the lodge’s condition and the seller’s motivation.
“They wanted it gone and they wanted to meet the market [and] move on,” she said.
Mullins’ listing urged buyers to “bring your builder, your architect, and your imagination”, warning that the property was “not for the faint of heart”.
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“It needs some TLC, that’s for sure,” the agent told OneRoof.
The vendors paid $595,000 for the property in 2009, and then leased it to an accommodation provider who ran it as The Chalet before closing it 10 years ago. The lodge had a dining room, a commercial kitchen, a bar, and 13 accommodation rooms, but had been empty for years and required significant work, Mullins said.
Mullins said the property had attracted enquiries from around New Zealand. She even had a buyer from Australia express interest.
The large 800sqm property includes 13 guest rooms. Photo / Supplied
“It was a raft of different people looking for different things. Some were obviously just going to set it up as it used to be – as a hotel basically – and others looked at it to maybe make apartments out of it or change the use.”
The property is close to popular hiking tracks, ski fields, and the scenic TranzAlpine train route.
Mullins said it was still early days with the new owners expected to carry out extensive work on the site before reopening its doors.
The European-inspired property has a long history in the village and was built by Swiss ski instructor, climber and stone mason Hans Bohny and his wife, Patricia, in the 1960s.
The couple initially opened it as a coffee shop before expanding the premises into an 800sqm building with a pub and accommodation in the close-knit community. They ran it for 30 years before selling it in the 1990s.
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