An auction, heralded during Tuesday's nightly WIN News Illawarra bulletin, will take place on March 14.

Colliers International's Simon Kersten will manage the sale and said the boarded-up heritage site was expected to fetch "into the millions" despite its condition.

"After a lengthy period of ownership, the owners have decided that they no longer have a use for the building," Mr Kersten said, giving no other indication why WIN Corporation, which has owned the landmark for 30 years, had decided to sell.

"There's significant work to be done but that would depend on where you're going with it."

The hotel was established by Alfred Broadhead in 1884 as a miners' pub, before Reschs Brewery bought and demolished the original structure, erecting the two-storey hotel that stands today.

The hotel was renovated and extended a number of times, notably in the 1970s when the rear balcony was added.

It shut in November 2003, when business tanked after a landslide that closed Lawrence Hargrave Drive.

Sea Cliff Bridge opened two years later, allowing the road to once again become a well-travelled tourist track but the pub languished.

WIN Corporation finally proposed a $1.6 million makeover in 2010, asking the council to approve new internal fittings and two new outdoor decks.

The hotel's facade, public bar and an original timber staircase were to be preserved and restored, and accommodation on the first floor was to be converted to office space.

But Clifton residents rejected these plans, saying the noise from the pub would be unbearable and visitors would cause traffic and parking havoc in their tiny suburb.

Wollongong City Council suggested the refurbished hotel operate at reduced trading hours and install barriers to protect its neighbours' privacy, and in 2011, it was recommended the refurbishment be approved with strict operating conditions.

More than three years later, no work has been done on the deteriorating hotel, which prospective buyers will be able to tour from Wednesday.