An Orewa building, built with Rodney ratepayers’ money, has been sold for almost half its CV value.
An unconditional deal is in place for the former Rodney District Council administration centre, on Centreway Road, at a price that Auckland Councillor John Watson describes as “a fire sale of staggering proportions”.
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.
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. Mayor Phil Goff says an alternative location in Orewa will be found for a customer service centre and local board meeting rooms.
