The Gardens Tavern in Castle St, Dunedin, is on the market
in a deadline sale, which closes on April 14. Photo by
Peter McIntosh.
Drinking at the Gardens Tavern in Castle St may be an
endangered feature of student life in Dunedin.
The 1960s tavern, known affectionately as "The Gardies", is
up for sale, and it seems most likely the site will be
redeveloped by any future owner.
The 2080ha site has a rateable value of $1.025 million.
Advertisements for it on Saturday said the site offered a
unique opportunity to invest in student accommodation.
The site has 800sq m of floor space.
Developers could add to the existing structure or start
again, the advertisements said.
The existing building has a rateable value of $235,000, and
the land is valued at $790,000.
Edinburgh Realty real estate agent Lane Sievwright said
yesterday he was expecting a lot of interest in the site.
He already had 12 orders for information packs.
Two private buyers had put in offers, and the University of
Otago had shown some interest, he said.
The property, owned by Gardies Ltd, is being sold by deadline
sale, which closes on April 14.
Majority Gardies Ltd shareholder Peter Innes-Jones was
playing cricket yesterday and was not available to discuss
reasons for the sale.
In 2007, the tavern's bid to have a closing time of 1am seven
nights a week drew opposition from 24 out of 26 submitters,
including the police, the University of Otago and the Dunedin
City Council.
A revised plan for 1am closing on Friday and Saturday nights
(rather than the existing midnight) also did not find favour
with the Dunedin City Council.
Closing times remained at 11pm Sunday to Thursday and
midnight Friday and Saturday.
Otago University bought the Bowling Green Hotel in March last
year for research and teaching space for the medical school.
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