Auction looming for iconic Napier CBD site

The two-storey Emerson St Napier CBD site up for auction on May 28, including the historic but closed National Cafe. Photo / Supplied

The building which housed iconic Napier CBD eatery the National Café is to go up for auction later this month more than five years after the diner closed amid the retirements of kitchen and waiting team and brothers Bill and Alex Paxie.

The two-storey building had been on the market since the cafe closed, the brothers saying in 2015 there were hopes the cafe could remain open pending sale.

It was soon closed apart from options for events, including capturing the nostalgia of Art Deco Weekend, of which it had been a popular part for more than 20 years with a history and culture all of its own, but a future with National Cafe reborn is not out of the picture.

There have been renovations and Bayleys Napier salesperson Kerry Geange says that while owned by the same family for almost 90 years it has a new building standard rating of 100 per cent, and, fully-tenanted, the site of two shop fronts and apartments upstairs has the potential to generate rental revenue of about $140,000 a year.

"After trading as a hospitality venue for some 90 years, the business is currently dormant with its operators retiring," he says. An immaculately-maintained kitchen and front-of-house food service infrastructure and furnishings mean it's ready for a new owner to take over the operation as a "turn-key opportunity", Geange says.

The building was a product of the post-earthquake rebuilding of Napier, designed by legendary architect Louis Hay and opened in 1936 by the brothers' parents, Nick and Nicolette Paxie.

It became a popular eatery through World War II and the post-war years, Friday-night shopping, the changing social and dining habits from the days of the hotel trade's 6 O'clock swill to a later closing time of 10pm and then 11pm, including more than 20 packed Saturday nights during Hawke's Bay's 1966-1960 Ranfurly Shield era.

It retained every piece of nostalgia, still furnished with Formica table tops and vinyl seat coverings, on tables and chairs with steel legs, and the brothers serving customers as soon as seated with the traditional two slices of bread and roll of butter.

There were big raps for such simplicities as steak, eggs and chips, the mixed grill now almost a thing of the past because of the increased cost of meat, and fish and chips – the chips and salad dressing all created on-site.

There was no dishwashing machine, the brothers occasionally appearing at diners' sides with tea towels over the shoulders as they mixed the disciplines of the business, and there was no eftpos.

The site for sale, at 112–118 Emerson St and including a second building which was added in 1949, also contains a Flight Centre branch on the street frontage, and two upstairs apartments.

Sitting on 234 square metres of freehold land, the site is to be auctioned by Bayleys on May 28.

Geange says the quality of fit-outs throughout the property is exceptional – reflecting modern design and clean line décor.

"The upstairs New York-style residential apartments for example are as good as you would expect to see on The Block NZ, and have the potential to be occupied by either long-term tenants seeking the convenience of inner-city living, or short-term holiday lets through the likes of Airbnb."

The building is constructed on concrete floor foundations, with concrete slab walls, and a mixture of steel, timber and aluminium joinery. Both ground floor commercial tenancies have access from a rear service lane at the back of the property.