The century-old Hotel Mitchell west of Brisbane has issued a ‘hail Mary’ for a new owner, with trustees looking for a bare-bones offer on the historic two-storey pub.
Mitchell is a town of 800 souls an hour west of Roma, straddling the Warrego Highway (A2).
Its namesake pub was built in 1918, replacing the former Post Office Hotel that had been on the 2,679sqm site since 1864.
It is also the only pub in town with gaming, with four EGMs, Keno and Sky Racing, also offering a classic public bar, commercial kitchen and 40-seat bistro, function room, 18 air-conditioned accommodation rooms and a large manager’s residence, with ample parking.
There are also three shopfronts on the street frontage, currently untenanted.
Since the start of 2018 it has been trading under control of the trustee, with the aim to build toward a sale rather than sell the freehold going concern for break-up value.
“The hard work has been done over the last year, and there is a huge amount of potential in the Hotel, especially for an owner-operator looking to secure a future in the industry,” says PAAM’s Geoff Eaton.
But approaching its time limit in this format, a final call on behalf of the vendors says closing the Hotel Mitchell “would be a great loss to the local community and definitely a missed opportunity”.
“If you are looking for a regional hotel, you won’t find a better chance to secure a freehold hotel for a fraction of replacement price,” adds Eaton.
The trustee advises that if a buyer is not located soon, the pub may cease trading in November.
“A great lifestyle investment with all the start-up work done, accommodation and restaurant facilities revamped, and solid feedback on trip adviser.
“Just needs a motivated operator who can walk in and take reinvigorate trade.”
The Hotel Mitchell is being offered for sale on a walk-in-walk-out basis.
The previous asking price was $400k, but all reasonable offers will be considered, potentially including offers on the property without the gaming authorities.
