My Account
Auckland Council’s property at 50 Centreway Road, Orewa, is moving out of public ownership, with an unconditional deal now in place at a price that Councillor John Watson describes as “a fire sale of staggering proportions” and a poor deal for ratepayers.
The property has a CV of $28.8 million, but Cr Watson says the sale price was almost half that – $15.1 million.
“By any measure, that’s a woeful deal for a prime, 1.9ha site only 500m from Orewa Beach and with Business Mixed Use zoning,” Cr Watson says. “It’s a scandal, and that’s without taking into account the substantial capital investment put into the site just prior to the Councils’ amalgamation. The relatively new Tasman Building, for instance, cost more than $12 million alone.”
The purchaser is Sustainable Property Investments, whose director, John Bolam, is a long term Whangaparaoa resident.
Mr Bolam says that the company specialises in re-purposing, leasing and operating commercial properties.
As part of the deal, Council will continue to lease the site, which provides face-to-face services for ratepayers, until around 2022/23, when those services will be amalgamated at a hub in Albany.
However, Mayor Phil Goff has assured Hibiscus Coast residents that the loss of local services will not occur, and an alternative location in Orewa will be found for a customer service centre and local board meeting rooms before Council vacates 50 Centreway Road.
Mr Bolam says that the company “intends to enhance, rejuvenate and reposition the property as a regional commercial centre”. He anticipates tenants will come from the public and private sector and that the site could include medical services as well as commercial offices, central Government agencies and education services.
“A commercial service centre along these lines should be valuable to the local community, providing services within easy reach of the 50,000 residents in the area and reducing their need to travel out of the area,” he says.
Part of Centrestage Theatre’s access and car parking is also on the site, and Mr Bolam says the company supports the theatre and will liaise with it to ensure it continues to have access and parking.”
Hibiscus & Bays Local Board member Julia Parfitt opposed the sale of the site in 2018, but says she is heartened to see it go to a “community-focused business”.
“It could have been a lot worse, had it been sold for something like residential development,” she says.
