Strong investor interest expected for Ministry of Education's new Wellington home

Thursday, 28 June 2018

A prominent Wellington building which underwent a controversial refit with a 'stairway to heaven' is for sale.

Mātauranga House, in Bowen St, is owned by Vinta Properties, and is home to Ministry of Education staff.

Last year, the property was refitted by the ministry at a cost of $20 million. This included a $2.5m, 12-floor staircase called 'the stairway to heaven' by then-Labour education spokesman Chris Hipkins.

'Huge expenditure like this on a gold-plated office will certainly stick in the craw of teachers and students up and down the country. Is this the stairway to heaven? It would need to lead to somewhere pretty special for that sort of money,' Hipkins said.

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At the time, then-Ministry of Education boss Peter Hughes said the revamp of Mātauranga House would come in $3m under budget and save $27m on accommodation and running costs over the 15-year term of the lease.

Mātauranga is leased by the Ministry of Education for the next 15 years.

The building was formerly the headquarters of the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE).

CBRE Wellington managing director Matthew St Amand said he expected strong investor interest in the building, as it was in the heart of the Government Precinct.

The property is next to the Reserve Bank, and across the road from the Parliament buildings.

The building, which was built in 1989, received an award of merit at the 2016 New Zealand Property Council Industry Awards.

St Amand said the building would appeal to investors because it had been seismically strengthened to 100 per cent of the new building standard.

A glimpse of the $2.5m, 12-floor staircase called 'the Stairway to Heaven'.

Since the 2016 Kaikoura earthquake, Wellington had experienced a 'significant' fall in vacancy rates, with prime vacancy at a 20-year low, he said.

'Consequently, rents are experiencing significant growth and there are no large contiguous areas of space available in the Wellington CBD.'

Over the past three years, a number of Wellington commercial properties had changed hands for premium prices, driven by a trend of maiden investors, both local and overseas, St Amand said.

Investor appetite for commercial real estate in the capital remained robust in 2018, as investors look to secure stable income streams, he said.

'We're picking 33 Bowen Street will draw strong onshore and offshore interest.'