No city council bid for ‘lemon’ Reading Cinemas site
Monday, 15 July 2024
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Reading Cinemas is for sale – but the Wellington City Council has ruled out making a bid.
After a failed attempt to strike a deal where the city would pay $32m to Reading International, on the condition that the owners strengthen the earthquake-prone complex within 15 years, the company has put the cinema and adjacent land on the market.
The news has been welcomed by those around the council table, who hope that something like Auckland’s Commercial Bay shopping precinct could be the result. The downtown multi-level complex combines food, retail and office space.
The combined rateable value for the three sites owned by Reading Cinemas is $55m.
The council was not considering a purchase, spokesperson Richard MacLean confirmed on Sunday.
The fact Reading had put the site on the market so soon after the deal fell through showed it was a “lemon” and the council should not have been involved, said councillor Iona Pannett.
“This is absolutely a good thing. Sometimes it’s good that businesses can make these hard-nosed financial decisions.”
Earlier this year, philanthropist Sir Mark Dunajtschik had offered to buy the land from Reading International, with the ground rent going to his charity Nikau Foundation.
Lawyer Nick Wareham said Dunajtschik had not received any details since then about the sale of the land, other than what had been reported in the media.
“We've previously reached out directly to Reading and have not received any response. We're not interested in dealing with people who won't offer the courtesy of a response.”
Mayor Tory Whanau said she was “very pleased” to see the cinema on the market, giving another developer the opportunity to take on the site.
“This is a great opportunity for someone passionate about Wellington to do something awesome with such a fantastic bit of real estate.”
Even though the Reading deal was over, Whanau said city revitalisation remained a key priority.
“We are committed to improving the city centre by reinvigorating it through the Pōneke Promise, the City Centre Precinct Plan and the Golden Mile which will make the CBD a more friendly and attractive space.'
Whanau previously described the derelict cinema as a “huge eyesore looming glumly over Courtenay Pl” and warned that if the council’s deal did not go ahead, it would remain empty for years.
Business owners on Courtenay Place were disappointed with the outcome of the Reading deal, saying a cinema was a great way to bring people to the struggling entertainment precinct.
All up, Reading’s three parcels of land – the Courtenay Place complex plus two adjacent parking lots – total 1.5ha.
Pannett said she would like to see a Commercial Bay style development on the site. At the very least it should provide a third space on Courtenay Pl where people could socialise without drinking, she said.
Councillor Ben McNulty said it was a “huge site” of the kind you might expect a consortium to develop.
“Something mixed use with major residential capacity will be perfect,” he said.
He believed the council should ensure that whatever was developed would include a thoroughfare through to Tākina convention centre.
Councillor Diane Calvert estimated the costs of a development on the site in the realm of hundreds of millions.
Like Pannett she hoped that it could activate both the daytime and night time economies.
“The recent developments in central Auckland such as Commercial Bay and the Wynyard Quarter show what’s possible in a NZ setting.”
Councillors should take a backseat to the process, but could provide confidence by being clear on the plans for the area, she said.
“Just let the market get in and do what it does best within the guidelines - letting prosperity and the city flourish.”