Local women Lynley Daly and Ella King will take ownership of the Clutha Licensing Trust’s Oak Tree Inn in Clinton as a going concern on Tuesday, after the sale went unconditional this week.
Neither the trust nor its new owners would disclose a sale price for the hotel-motel complex on State Highway 1 but, in April, trust general manager Mike Curtis said an independent valuation for the freehold was "north of half a million dollars".
Both Mrs Daly and Mrs King are local farmers, and Mrs King also runs a courier business and has been manager of the inn for the past year.
Mrs King said the pair’s motivation for acquiring the business, which includes a bar, bistro, bottle store and nine motel rooms, was to create "an awesome place" for the community.
"We both love the Clinton community, which has been good to us over the years, and we both love socialising and bringing people together.
"Our vision is to create a hub for the community that takes care of the many long-standing and loyal clients of the inn, and adds on further elements like a cafe, meeting rooms and events that can make this a true destination for everyone in the district."
Mrs King joked that if you want work well done, ask a busy woman.
"It’s a bit overwhelming right now, but I’m very excited to get to work with Lyn ... and very excited for the future."
Mrs Daly said the pair had been "frantically running around" since the sale was finalised.
"It’s a big undertaking, but we’re just planning to build on the great work the trust has already done. We’re pulling out all the stops to make sure we keep pulling pints from day one."
She said a new cafe would be called Crossroads Kitchen, in line with rebranding for the complex as "Crossroads".
"We want to make it more of a daytime stop for locals and travellers alike, so we’ll be expanding the cafe hours come springtime."
The new complex’s bar would retain a familiar name, however.
"We’re going to call it the Oak Bar, so everyone has a wee reminder of its history."
