New Zealanders have bought back Auckland's Queen St, gradually seizing back control of the prize real estate strip from overseas investors.
Slowly but surely and without any fanfare, the country's most valuable office tower and shopping strip has passed from European, Asian and Australian custody back to local control.
In
the last decade, a group of key properties between the waterfront and the Whitcoulls building have been traded - mainly secretly, without any announcements and far from the public gaze.
Despite shopping's regionalisation into suburban territories, the few strategic blocks of Queen St from the sea to Victoria St contain properties worth more than $2 billion.
This group of only about 50 buildings remains the glittering prize for investors and certainly one of the most visited tourist strips.
Getting your name on a Queen St title in that tightly-held group of properties is a pinnacle for any investor.
"These buildings are rarely sold," says Colliers International valuer Nigel Dean.
Like players in a game of high-stakes Monopoly, the investors have seized the chance to get back a slice of this clutch of buildings.
Sir Bob Jones is the only high-profile investor in the group, although Greg Wilkinson's alliance with entrepreneur Eric Watson gained him a degree of notoriety six years ago.
The Pendergrasts, migrant Pandey family from Singapore and Paul Doole are hardly household names.
Yet the Pandeys own 10 large New Zealand hotels worth more than $200 million and are looking to buy more.
Queen St is their favourite place, Prakash Pandey says, because it's where so many tourists expect to stay when they visit Auckland.
Consultants praise the return of the street's best blocks to domestic ownership. "Locals have got back the dress circle of New Zealand property," said Jones Lang LaSalle's agency director, Nick Hargreaves.
"In the 1990s, New Zealanders were too poor to be able to afford any Queen St properties because so few had more than $10 million required back then to buy in. So Queen St was in the hands of Australian, European, Japanese, Hong Kong and later Singaporean investors. But now those owners are starting to get out because local owners are getting back in.
"It's now untrue to say Queen St is mainly owned by overseas entities - and this hasn't been the case for some years because New Zealanders have been back into that street with a vengeance in the last five years."
John Binning, Jones Lang's commercial sales and investments consultant, said the ownership shift had occurred gradually.
The other major change on the golden mile has been for investors to create many titles in one block and then sell chunks of buildings, often floor-by-floor. This strata-titling has enabled smaller businesses to buy into Queen St.
Owners who had an entire building have been able to cash up their floors as apartments, offices or professional practice suites, often to owner/occupiers and often for rich pickings.
The breakup cost of selling a building in chunks has yielded healthy profits.
Take the 12-level K H Lai Building at 99 Queen St, illustrative of tenure change. Finance giant Tower sold it in 1993 for $6.2 million to Kam Huang Lai of Hong Kong. The Pendergrasts of Ladstone then bought it for around $7 million and strata-titled the block in a series of lucrative deals.
The Wollongong University College House at the Queen/Wyndham St intersection is another example. The Pendergrasts paid $17 million for this partially vacant building in September 2002 and are said to have doubled their money after a building upgrade and strata-title sales.
"There's been a huge push for owner-occupiers to unlock the true value of buildings," says Dean of Colliers.
Yet there is some irony on the strip. While retailers prize a Queen St location, many upper-level floors stand vacant. Dean attributes this to such high incomes from the shops, from $2500/sq m to $3500/sq m annually, which makes the landlords reluctant to make alterations in the ground-floor areas to allow access to floors above.
Who owns it
* Wellington's Sir Bob Jones of TV show Dragons' Den and Robt Jones Investments.
* Peter Cooper of Bluewater who returned from the United States to win the $350 million Britomart tender.
* Orakei husband and wife Ross and Dallas Pendergrast of the Ladstone group of companies, instrumental in many strata-title deals.
* Paul Doole, who foresaw the apartment boom long before others and developed many blocks of units.
* Greg Wilkinson, formerly of Axis when he was associated with Eric Watson.
* CP Group headed by Charles Pandey and his son Prakash. Charles made his fortune in Singapore but has Auckland offices.
* Veronica Krukziener, mother of Metropolis developer Andrew Krukziener. She lives in the eastern suburbs.
LEFT SIDE
1. Endeans Building
2-10 QUEEN ST: A seven-level strata titled building of apartments and shops. Dates from 1910-1919 and converted into the New Yorker Apartments in 1994. Unit title ownership.
2. Former Chief Post Office
12 QUEEN ST, FRONTS QUEEN ELIZABETH II SQUARE: Owned by Auckland City Council. Upper three levels leased to Peter Cooper's Bluewater for 80 years, just refurbished and leased. Stands above the Britomart Transport hub.
3. Mercure Hotel
CORNER OF CUSTOMS ST EAST AND QUEEN ST: Managed by France's Accor Hotels, the world's largest hotel operator. Sold to the Pandey family's CP Group of Auckland for around $30 million two months ago.
4. Dilworth Building
22-34 QUEEN ST: A nine-level ornate plaster and stonework apartment and office building designed by Fletcher Construction Co, built in 1928. Bought by the Pendergrasts' Ladstone Dilworth which sold strata-titles for shops, offices and apartments.
5. Queens Arcade
34 QUEEN ST: Dates from the 1880s, boutique shopping arcade. Owned by Davis Properties whose shareholders include Denys and Suzanne Holden of Wellington.
6. Smaller buildings
SURROUNDING THE IMPERIAL BUILDING AT 48 QUEEN ST: Freehold owned by AMP Life.
7. Mercure Hotel Windsor
58-60 QUEEN ST: Managed by Accor Hotels, owned by the Pandey family's CP Group of Auckland.
8. Portland Towers
62-64 QUEEN ST: New high-rise by apartment specialist and Aucklander Paul Doole, operating as Quest on Queen.
9. Queen St Backpackers
66-68 QUEEN ST: Sold for $6.6 million six years ago to Tattersfield Securities and Stephanie Tattersfield.
10. BNZ
70-80 QUEEN ST: Multiplex bought it from the BNZ. A controversial plan to redevelop the site will see only part of the historic adjoining Jean Batten State Building retained but bring new national headquarters for the bank.
11. Blacketts Building
86-92 QUEEN ST: Xakeila Holdings and Orizaba Holdings, registered in the Cayman Islands. Lawyer Marcus Macdonald of Phillips Fox is the local contact. Speculation among property investors in Auckland is that its ultimate owner is a Perth woman with money from the iron ore sector who collects historic buildings. Some speculate she is billionaire Gina Rinehart, although this has never been confirmed.
12. Asean Properties
94-96 QUEEN ST: Owned by Gavin Garnett of Herne Bay. Robert Wong of Epsom was also listed as an owner at one stage. A historic structure, built in 1882.
13. Craigs Building
98-100 QUEEN ST: Sold to 100 Queen St, whose directors are Martin and Catherine Spencer of Remuera.
14. 104-106 QUEEN ST: Norfolk Trustee Company owned by Paul Doole.
15. 108-110 QUEEN ST: Also owned by Doole's Norfolk.
16. Vulcan Building
118-124 QUEEN ST, ON THE VULCAN LANE CORNER: Sold to Christopher Moore and Nigel Arkell in 1998 for $10 million.
17. 138 Queen St: Apex Properties owned by Richard Peterson of Wellington.
18. Keans Building
150-152 QUEEN ST: Guardian Property Fund, owned by finance giant Guardian Trust.
19. 154-156 QUEEN ST: SCL Shing Nominees of Epsom, owned by Chun Lam Shing and Yuk Kwan Ho of Hong Kong.
20. 158 QUEEN ST: David and Ian Ross.
21. 162 QUEEN ST: Islay Nominees owned by George Johnston of Remuera and Strathclyde Nominees.
22. 164 QUEEN ST: Also owned by Islay Nominees.
23. Canterbury Arcade
166-174 QUEEN ST: St John Balanced Property Fund, a syndicate organised by the Pendergrasts' Ladstone group.
24. 176-178 QUEEN ST: Freehold by Melanesian Mission Trust Board, leasehold sold to Carter & Partners No 11.
25. Premier Buildings
182-184 QUEEN ST: Premier Property Holdings owned by Greg Wilkinson of Axis, Joanna Shand of Drury and Philip Bell of Remuera.
26. Little High St, The Met and Soho Lofts and Apartments
186-202 QUEEN ST: Greg Wilkinson's Axis developed the properties between 1999 and 2000, then sold the apartments.
27. Whitcoulls Building
Sold to Queen St 210 for $15.5 million in June 2003. The company is owned by Greg and Rebecca Wilkinson.
RIGHT SIDE
28. Ferry Building
The same Orizaba/Xakeila owner who owns the Ferry Building. She paid $5.3 million in July 2000. Category 1 Historic Places Trust listing, built in 1879.
29. HSBC Tower
1 QUEEN ST: Asian investor Equinox Group which rose to prominence working with law firm Knight Coldicutt.
30. Westfield Downtown Shopping Centre
QUEEN ELIZABETH SQUARE: Westfield (NZ), run by Australia's wealthy Lowy family headed by patriarch and Holocaust survivor Frank Lowy.
31. Downtown House
7-12 QUEEN ST, FRONTING QUEEN ELIZABETH SQUARE: Ladstone Holdings headed by Ross and Dallas Pendergrast.
32. Tower Centre
INTERSECTION QUEEN ST/CUSTOMS ST: AMP Property Portfolio, the insurance and investment giant with headquarters in Australia.
33. National Equity House
75 QUEEN ST: National Equity, whose directors are Charles St Clair Brown of Herne Bay and Keith Gosling of St Marys Bay.
34. Westpac Bank Building
79 QUEEN ST: Sold for $15 million two years ago to Featherston Freeholds whose directors are David and Rebecca Chan of Remuera.
35. Dingwall Building
87-93 QUEEN ST: CP Group owned by Charles Pandey and his son Prakash, who made money in Singapore and now live in Auckland.
36. Guardian Trust Building
107 QUEEN ST: Sold for $10 million in 2002 to Greg Wilkinson's Guardian Property Holdings. He strata-titled many of the units in the historic block and converted them into apartments.
37. BNZ Tower
125 QUEEN ST: Owned by the Sultan of Brunei, managed by Jones Lang LaSalle. The Sultan has sold his luxury Herne Bay houses but kept this glass monument.
38. IAG House (often called the Fay Richwhite Building)
CORNER QUEEN AND WYNDHAM STS: AMP NZ Office Trust which is listed on the stock exchange, managed by Australians but owned by many New Zealand investors.
39. Wollongong University College House
155 QUEEN ST: The Pendergrast's Ladstone refurbished and strata-titled the block.
40. Colonial Building
161-165 QUEEN ST: Sold in 1993 for $3 million to Macmonti Holdings, owned by Veronica Krukziener of Glendowie, mother of Metropolis developer Andrew Krukziener.
41. City Life Hotel
167-173 QUEEN ST: Freehold owned by Melanesian Mission Trust, long-term leasehold to Singapore's Dynasty Hotel Investments. Site sold to Dynasty for $2.8 million in 1994.
42. Enterprise Software House
177 QUEEN ST: Strata-title ownership.
43. Landmark House (former Auckland Electric Power Board building)
185-189 QUEEN ST: Sold to Greg and Rebecca Wilkinson's Queen Street 185 for $9.5 million in 2003. Part of the building has been strata-titled.
44. Qantas House
191-201 QUEEN ST: Sold by Asian-controlled Trans Tasman Properties to Sir Bob Jones of Wellington for $42 million in December, 2004.
45. Q&V Building
203 Queen St on the Victoria St corner opposite Whitcoulls: Sold by Noel Robinson to Australia's MFL for $33 million this year.
NZers have been gradually buying back Queen St buildings
New Zealanders have bought back Auckland's Queen St, gradually seizing back control of the prize real estate strip from overseas investors.
Slowly but surely and without any fanfare, the country's most valuable office tower and shopping strip has passed from European, Asian and Australian custody back to local control.
In
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