New building plan for ‘Dirty 30’ heritage site

Wednesday, 6 March 2024

The old Harley Chambers on the corner of Worcester Blvd and Cambridge Tce has boarded up windows and protective fencing.

The derelict Harley Chambers - a heritage building on Christchurch’s “Dirty 30” list - looks likely to be demolished.

Owners Cambridge 137 Ltd are preparing to seek resource consent from Christchurch City Council to demolish the building, which is on the corner of Worcester Blvd and Cambridge Tce.

They will also seek resource consent to replace it with a new building described by director Mike Doig as “something really impressive”.

Inside the building in 2018. Its condition continues to deteriorate.

Both consent applications are likely to be open to public submissions.

Built almost 100 years ago as offices for medical, dental and other health professionals, the neo-classical Harley Chambers has a heritage listing.

The building suffered earthquake damage and is listed as quake-prone. Since the quakes it has suffered ongoing damage from weather, vandalism and a fire, and continues to deteriorate.

It was included on the city council’s Dirty 30 list of sites considered barriers to the Christchurch rebuild and is now one of 13 listed as having a “commitment to action” from its owners.

Blue Jean Cuisine has been in ruins for years.

Three remain without a firm plan: the Blue Jean Cuisine and 2 Fat Indians buildings on Manchester St, and the former PWC site on Armagh St.

Last year Cambridge 137 bought the Harley Chambers building from Lee Pee Ltd.

Lee Pee Ltd’s plans to demolish it and put up a luxury hotel foundered after its director, lawyer Gerard McCoy, died.

Cambridge 137 has already made a submission to the council’s independent plan change hearings panel, seeking removal of the heritage listing. The submission is part-way through being heard and the hearing is due to resume in a few weeks.

Lee Pee Ltd’s hotel redevelopment plan included the Harley Chambers site but did not go ahead.

The company said in evidence already presented that it investigated saving the building the same way it had restored more than a dozen others, but found almost none of the heritage elements were salvageable.

The building was uneconomic to retain as it would cost an estimated $27.8 million to repair to new-build standard, while the finished produce would then be worth $13.4m, Cambridge 137 told the hearing.

The city council’s heritage team gave evidence that the building has architectural, historical and social significance. Its facade has category two heritage protection.

Blue Jean Cuisine off Manchester St is still a derelict mess. It is one of three of the council’s original “Dirty 30” buildings without a firm plan of action

The council’s engineers said it was “feasible, from an engineering perspective, to repair and strengthen the building or to retain the facade as part of a new build development”.

They agreed salvage would require extensive work, and temporary work would need to be done first to make the structure safe.

Doig said this week if they obtained the necessary resource consents, they would be keen to get on with the redevelopment.

Then owner Gerard McCoy of Lee Pee Ltd during a 2018 tour of Harley Chambers.

“We’ve obviously saved a lot of buildings, but this one is just too far gone. It’s absolutely stuffed,” he said.

“What we are planning will be something very impressive, and something the city will be proud of.”

Doig said because they are working with other parties, it is too early to reveal designs for the planned replacement.

The new building is being designed by architects Ignite, whose Christchurch projects have included the Sudima City hotel, the EntX building, Woolston Library, and the planned South Library.

“The residents of Christchurch have put up with the damaged building long enough, and we really want to develop the site,” Doig said.