Koroit's historic Mickey Bourke's hotel is up for sale with expressions of interest in the site expected to fetch offers of more than $2 million.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Falk & Co sales manager Gary Attrill, who listed the property this week, said he expected the offers to be in the $2 million to $2.2 million range.
Owner Bruce Murley said he and Wendy were ready to retire - something they had tried to do just before the pandemic hit.
In the hopes that the disruptions of the past two years are behind us, he said they had decided to list it for sale.
Established in 1853 by David McLaws, a Scottish carpenter and pioneer, the Koroit Hotel was sold in the 1920s to the Bourke family.
It thrived under the management of Michael Bourke, who now lends his name to the pub which is famous for its links to the region's Irish history.
The Murleys became the hotel's fifth owners when they bought it in 2000.
After raising their kids there, they now say it is time to hand over the reins to someone else.
"We'd been in the process of putting it on the market and then the pandemic hit," he said.
"We shelved that for a while and now after the pandemic we've put it on the market."
He said it was time to retire after 22 years at the pub.
The couple grew up in Hamilton, but were living in Alice Springs before they bought the pub.
"It's been a great learning curve. We bought a hotel that was pretty run down. We've restored externally and internally," Mr Murley said.
"Our kids have grown up at the hotel and they've gone on to live their lives and we thought we wanted to get out and do a bit more with them.
"The kids were three and five when we got here. They're all grown up now."
Mr Murley said they had purchased a farm nearby and were planning to stay in the south-west.
"We love Koroit. We love the area," he said.
"The pub's been great but we've run out of petrol a bit."
Mr Murley said operating the pub throughout the pandemic was hard but they got through it.
"You can dwell on things and you're not sure how your business is going to go....but every time we reopened trade went up. We actually bounced back better than we ever thought," he said.
"It's got a long history. It's been through two pandemics. It opened in 1853 and it went through the Spanish plague and now COVID so it's pretty resilient."
Mr Murley said they hadn't lost many staff during the lockdowns, and they were lucky not to be hit with sick staff during the wave of coronavirus that hit the region over summer.
"We've had a fantastic 22 years. It's time for someone else to take it to the next level," he said.
Mr Murley said there was the potential for someone to build motel units at the back of the pub if they wanted to.
"There's plenty of scope to do more things," he said.
IN OTHER NEWS:
- Commonwealth Games events in region a possibility as state makes bid
- Complaints about dangerous historic trees spark council meeting exchange
- Parents suffer ultimate grief after son died at hands of driver
- Five years after it closed, town's store on the market
- Fast Eddie chasing giant birthday result in cycling festival
Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can access our trusted content:
- Bookmark https://www.standard.net.au/
- Make sure you are signed up for our breaking and regular headlines and newsletters
- Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn
- Tap here to open our Google News page.
- Join our Courts and Crime Facebook group and our dedicated Sport Facebook group
- Subscribe
Now just one tap with our new app: Digital subscribers now have the convenience of faster news, right at your fingertips with The Standard: