Who are the likely contenders to develop Reading site?

Tuesday, 16 July 2024

Wellington beaches have a litter problem while the infamous Reading cinema building is on the market.

In discussions about the likely contenders for the Reading Cinemas land on Courtenay Place, Precinct Properties keeps coming up as one of the only New Zealand companies with the capability to develop the land.

Chief executive Scott Pritchard did not respond to a request for comment.

Precinct has finished two developments in Wellington recently, opening the Bowen Campus and Willis Lane. The company has also been selected by the Wellington City Council to redevelop office space in Civic Square once the council’s two earthquake-prone office buildings have been knocked down.

Developers say they are pleased the big piece of Reading Cinemas land is up for sale.

At the time of that announcement Pritchard said the company was a “committed long-term investor” in the city, having developed property here for years.

A slide from Reading International's 2023 annual meeting, showing its 1.5ha of land in the centre of Wellington.

Property records show that a company called Precinct Properties Hotel, owned by Precinct Properties, purchased the vacant Amora Hotel from Eyal Aharoni’s Primeproperty in January 2023. The large, earthquake-prone hotel is one block along Wakefield St from the Reading Cinemas site.

Property developer Richard Burrell said the Reading Cinemas site had “everything going for it”, but it was a tricky time for the kind of multi-million dollar development that would be appropriate. International developers could be interested but that would be hard to predict.

“It’s fantastic, it’s great that it’s up for sale. I’ve got no idea who the party will be, because we’re in the middle of a recession.”

The council should be looking to immediately rezone the site with a height limit of 100 metres, to open the field up with more development potential, Burrell said.

A major hotel company had been looking for a site for a five-star hotel for years, so that could be part of a development.

The large quake-prone Amora Hotel is on Wakefield St, one block along from the Reading Cinemas site.

Another developer, Pat Vinaccia, said the site was “too big for me”. Willis Bond was a local developer he thought would be most likely to take it on, but the company did not respond to a request for comment.

“It’s a fantastic piece of land, it does lend well to having a mixed type of use, from apartments to entertainment … But I don't think it's going to be the Reading model anymore. It’s going to be different, 21st century stuff.”

As a cinema owner – Vinaccia owns the Empire Cinema in Island Bay – he had always been surprised that Reading International planned to open a large, 10-screen cinema on the site.

Councillor John Apanowicz said he couldn’t see anyone strengthening the cinema complex but it would be “intriguing” to see where the land ended up. “It’s a big chunk of land to swallow.”

Councillor Tim Brown pointed out that other developers were struggling to keep momentum for large projects in Wellington.

Willis Bond’s plan for a large office building on the Michael Fowler Centre carpark appeared to have stalled, while Precinct was continuing its search for tenants for a new building to replace council office space in Civic Square.

The Reading Cinemas building, as a vacant lot, would attract an extra-high rates bill at five times the usual residential rate.

“It's clearly going to be very interesting to see who, if anyone, turns up,” Brown said.