Primeproperty Group buys quake-damaged James Smith car park for $18.5 million

Monday, 3 July 2017

Many Wellington buildings were affected by the earthquake in November, included the James Smith car park on Wakefield St.

From one quake-damaged building, to another, the owner of the now-demolished 61 Molesworth St has snapped up a multi-storey car park building in central Wellington.

Eyal Aharoni, the director of Primeproperty Group which was ordered to pay more than $7500 for renting out 61 Molesworth St, Wellington, illegally, has bought James Smith car park in Wakefield St for $18.5 million.

61 Molesworth St building owner Eyal Aharoni in discussions with Wellington City Council building consents and compliance manager Mike Scott pictured in November.

He signed the contract in September, before November's 7.8 magnitude earthquake, however the quake struck before he settled.

He already had plans in place to strengthen the building, a project that Aharoni believed could take up to a year.

* Earthquake: Car parks at a premium

* Wellington has lost 3000 car parks, with Christmas around the corner**

'It will be a while, probably be a year. It's a bit early to say because engineers are still working on it…

'We were planning to strengthen it because we thought it wasn't 100 per cent anyway … but now there is further damage so we have to fix it up.'

However, due to the shortage of car parks in Wellington, Aharoni hoped to get it back up and running as soon as possible

Prior to buying the building, the company had leased it and was in charge of the day-to-day operations.

Since the November quake, it has been closed as it suffered structural damage. This meant 733 car parks were out of action in central Wellington.

CBRE Wellington managing director Matthew St Amand said car park buildings in Wellington had always been highly sought after.

'As it is in other major cities, the supply of carparks in Wellington has been impacted by the recent earthquake, and James Smith's Carpark has not yet reopened.

'We understand the seismic assessment process is still being undertaken'.

Mark Schiele, chief executive of its the building's former manager Oyster Property Group, said after the carpark was damaged in both the 2013 and 2016 earthquakes and in need of repairs from both quakes, it was no longer a viable commercial property investment.

'It made commercial sense to move the property on if an optimal outcome to investors could be achieved. And, at $18.5 million, the sale was at a premium to current valuation.'

Primeproperty Group has property investments in Wellington, Hamilton, Tauranga and Christchurch.