Deal of the Week: Hot Bar in a Utah Desert Sells Below List Price
Club Rio has been a mainstay in downtown Moab, Utah, since the late 1980s.
It’s now on course for some changes since a new buyer bought the real estate last week. Trent Bright, a broker with KW Commercial, confirmed the sale price of $1.25 million, $400,000 below the original list price.
Club Rio sat on the market for nearly a year before buyers emerged with offers. “Once I got one, I had another,” Bright said.
The seller, Tony Basso, a businessman in Price about 115 miles northwest of Moab, had owned Club Rio for many years, according to Bright. He said Basso was ready to get out of the business to focus on others in Price, which include an auto dealership, a radio station, a towing company and an event center.
Bright said the new owners are considering converting the place into a barbecue joint. For now, Club Rio, which serves food and drinks along with live entertainment, will operate through December as is and then undergo a renovation in preparation for the next tourism season, according to its Facebook page.
Moab has roughly 5,300 residents. Once a boomtown for uranium mining during the Cold War, the city has become a major destination for outdoor tourists because of its proximity to red rock formations in Arches National Park and the mesas and buttes of Canyonlands National Park.
Mountain bikers, campers, hikers, rock climbers, four wheelers and kayakers all descend on Moab each year, prompting new development to cater to them.
“Everyone’s building something,” Bright said.
But the development hasn’t brought much new residential real estate, which has apparently created a shortage of housing for lower-income households.
This year, the city temporarily banned construction of hotels, condominiums and houses for short-term rentals. The city council recently extended an earlier moratorium for another next six months until city planners can figure out how to better manage the development.
That might be good for anyone selling, say, a hotel. Bright listed a Comfort Suites in May with no list price.
Interestingly, amid the tourism boom, another longtime downtown watering hole in Moab is looking to cash out. Woody’s Tavern, a place that’s been in business for decades, was listed a few months ago for $2.99 million.
LoopNet publishes new "Deals of the Week" every other Monday. Click here for the entire series.
