In the heart of Fitzroy, on Johnston Street, The Rochester Castle Hotel (better known as the Rochey these days) is a favourite among locals, and for good reason. On top of the roaring fire and welcoming atmosphere highlights of the Rochey, along with the food, is the regular comedy night it hosts every Thursday in the beer garden.
There is plenty of space outside on George Street, 26 seats in all. Then in side all sorts of areas to explore. The bar is in the centre of the pub with almost complete 360 degrees of service. Throughout the ground floor there is lots of varied seating from the front room all the way down through to the courtyard at the rear of the venue. There, plenty of space under cover and in the open depending on the vagaries of the Melbourne weather. Behind the bar is a large well equipped commercial kitchen. Underneath the bar is the cellar with the cool room and large glycol beer system. Upstairs the old accommodation has been converted into offices, storage and at the end the top floor opens out to a large function space with its own bar and toilets.
The Rochey has a Late Night General Licence until 3am with a huge capacity of 591. There are ten years left on the lease made up of just over 5+5 with the rent review and end of this term coming up at the end of the year. Rent comes in at $4000 per week including GST. There is an extensive fixtures and fittings list with no equipment or supplier contracts being transferred.
The Rochey is run fully under management with the owners part of a hospitality group. They will be the first to admit that they have taken the foot off the gas on this venue to concentrate on others hence the venue now coming to market. The venue is a beast with huge potential and really needs a group with experience that can capitalise on what is already there and drive the venue forwards. The vendors do not intend to take up the option of another term on the lease in August. So the venue is priced for someone to just take over as is with no books on a walk in walk out basis. It's only $95,000 (price reduction) for this exclusively list Fitzroy pub.
