A HISTORIC piece of Castlemaine property is up for sale.
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The Criterion Hotel, located on Barket Street, has gone on the market for $3.5 million.
PRD Castlemaine real estate agent Elouise Dale said the property, which has the longest continuously held liquor license in town, would be prime for a new restaurant.
"It hasn't been running as a pub for a couple of years," she said.
"The lessee left at the start of COVID and the owners have held it for a long time but are now retired and don't want a pub or to run a business. It's been painted and put on the market.
"A lot of people in town have been telling me they want a new food place. Somewhere they can take the family and have a long lunch. People are saying there is a shortage of places like that that can take a big group.
"I'd personally like to see something distillery or place like that can showcase local food and wine. There is certainly enough room - upstairs has a huge room that could suit big functions."
The Criterion has been for sale for about two weeks.
It has a capacity of 410 people with the downstairs area comprising of a public bar area, a dining area that opens out to a courtyard, and a vast commercial kitchen with a walk-in coolroom and pantry.
Along with the function room, the upstairs area also has a second, smaller kitchen and bar with dual access to also service the interconnected rooms.
"The building is big enough to have two or three going on," Ms Dale said. "There is also the huge outdoor area in the courtyard. You could easily have a restaurant and still have a bar and something else up stairs.
"The building next door could also be part of it, which would give full control of the lane and some off-street parking."
Ms Dale said it was rare to have a building like The Criterion on the market.
"The last place that was sold and was similar was the Empyre Hotel," she said. "It sold last year and has now been turned into a private residence.
"The Empyre sold for $2.7 million and the Criterion has a bigger footprint. It's a solid building and has steel framing internally.
It also has an interesting history. (The Criterion) hosted the first eight-hour dinner in 1856 in celebration of Labour Day. It had 100 people on Christmas Eve for an eight-hour dinner."
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