Queensland’s only government-built pub, the one-of-a-kind Babinda State Hotel, is being sold by private owners.
Built in 1917, the hotel holds claim to being the only pub in the state constructed and operated by the Queensland Government at the time. It joined the Queensland Heritage Register in February 2002.
A two-storey timber structure, the lower level offers a main bar with Keno and front deck, gaming room with seven machines, commercial kitchen, restaurant and cafe, function rooms, six accommodation rooms, and bottleshop.
On the upper level there are accommodation wings, with 10 separate rooms, ensuites and bathrooms, and wrap-around timber balconies overlooking main street, plus a four-bedroom self-contained manager’s residence.
The building has been fitted with a large solar panel array, and there is off-street parking available in the council carpark on the western side of the property.
The asset holds two titles totalling 3,564sqm – one with the Hotel, on 1,884sqm, and an adjacent block of land with a three-bedroom house. The sites are zoned District Centre.
Babinda is a seaside town of roughly 1,300 residents, a leisurely 60-kilometre drive south out of Cairns.
Its famous pub has been under the stewardship of owner-operator Kitty Anning, who is now retiring to spend more time with the grandkids and hopes to have “farewell drinks” when a deal is done.
The pub is being sold with asking price of $3.6 million, as coastal Queensland properties continue to attract buyers from around the country.
A sale campaign on the freehold and business is being conducted through Babinda Real Estate’s Segrid Hudson, who sees it as a prime investment with huge potential.
“The multi-revenue business is being offered for sale with a motivated vendor,” she says, “And is a rare opportunity to secure this iconic valuable property.”
