Lyall Bay Tearooms building on the market

The building has been a local landmark in Wellington's Lyall Bay since the early 1900s. Photo / Supplied

In Wellington, the historic Lyall Bay Tearooms, across the road from the beach on the corner of Onepu Rd and Lyall Bay Parade, is for sale.

The fully-leased, 218sq m, two-storey weatherboard building on a 491sq m site has been local landmark in the seaside suburb since the early 1900s.

Now the freehold tenanted property is to be auctioned at 11 am on Thursday, December 6, through Richard Faisandier and Mark Walker of Bayleys Wellington.

They say that brothers Cam and Scott Garvie purchased the character building in 2013 and, after gaining the necessary council consents, undertook a significant refurbishment programme to rejuvenate the somewhat tired property into a ground floor cafe with two apartments above.

The refurbishment included upgrading the entire interior and exterior. In the two residential apartments, new kitchens and bathrooms were installed, along with new floor coverings, light fittings and window dressings.

On the ground level, a streamlined cafe fit-out was complemented by new exterior paving and fencing which created a courtyard sheltered from the southerly wind.

The pared back, stylish 170sq m retail premises on the ground floor is home to The Botanist Cafe which continues the hospitality tradition of the original property.

The Botanist vegan cafe is the latest hospitality offering from Lydia Suggate who, along with business partners, also founded some of the capital's most popular bars and casual restaurants including Little Beer Quarter, Beach Babylon, Bebemos and Basque.

Two high quality two-bedroom residential apartments – at 54sq m and 57sq m – are located above the cafe, with the front apartment having front row views of the sea.

Lyall Bay Botanist Limited, trading as The Botanist, is only three years into a 12-year lease. Along with the two upper level residential apartments, which are on varying lease terms, the property as a whole earns total net rent of $133,063 per annum.

The property is zoned Outer Residential and has benefitted from council initiatives to acknowledge the importance of recreational activity and amenity along the coastal edge of Lyall Bay.

Faisandier says it offers a passive investor an opportunity to secure a well-performing mixed-use property in an area that is seeing some regeneration.

"It's tenanted by a really busy cafe and bar operation that has filled a niche spot in Lyall Bay," says Faisandier.

"The suburb is seeing a bit of an upturn with a new apartment complex on the corner of Kingsford Smith St and Lyall Parade currently being promoted.

"Lyall Bay was even included on the recent Royal itinerary and it's a suburb that is definitely gaining traction."

Faisandier says the owners are selling the property to release capital so they can further other projects in Lyall Bay.