The enigmatic and enormous Captains Flat Hotel is being sold as a vacant possession eager to welcome back thirsty locals.
The large-format pub was built c.1937 on a 2,024sqm block on Foxlow Street, in the New South Wales town of Captains Flat, below the historic Lake George Mine.
Spanning three levels, it offers four bars – including claim to the longest bar in Australia, at 22.8 metres, cut down from the previous 32.2 metres, which was the longest in the southern hemisphere. It is also home to legend that beer glasses will mysteriously cling to the wall.
There is a large beer garden, full commercial kitchen and pizza oven, and impressive internal staircase leading to the 24 accommodation rooms – around a third of which open to the covered balcony – and guest’s lounge, plus the manager’s quarters.
It also provides some covered parking and boasts a new roof.
Opportunity comes in a few forms for the Hotel, including greater focus on functions and weddings, with no rear neighbours to voice interruption.
In the past parts of the pub have been used for alternate purposes, including as the local post office, providing options to reduce the licensed footprint and maximise earning potential.
Although the CFH resumed trading after the COVID shutdown, in June of 2020, personal complications with the tenant left it closed and vacant in September, still well-stocked, including over a dozen boxes of hand sanitiser.
It is the only Hotel in Captains Flat, which is an historic township less than an hour south-east of the heart of Canberra. Its population of 4,163 is projected to grow over 10 per cent in next 10-15 years.
The area is popular with tourists and for mountain biking, and the road to Captains Flat is currently undergoing a $10 million upgrade.
John Buckley of RE/MAX Capital is marketing the asset with RE/MAX Commercial Alliance’s Garry Kelly, for the freehold owner, Charlie Micallef.
A local buyer exchanged contracts to buy it in March, with settlement in September, but the deal fell over and it is now back on the market.
“It is a thriving community, with a primary school and police station,” offers Buckley.
“Popular for day-trippers, the historic mining village is loved by visitors and locals alike.”
Buckley has been providing inspections, which he says take hours due to its sheer size.
The sale has just begun an online auction process, with the first bidder starting proceedings at $650k.
