Property Insider: Waiwera tower went with a whimper; wholesale fund repayments looming; Foodstuffs’ merger

How expectations of a dramatic tower toppling went unfulfilled; the slow-burning issue of wholesale funds; a whirlwind tour of the world’s best architecture; and where art meets advertising - a new take on house-for-sale signs. The Business Herald’s new column offers insight into what those on the inside of the property industry are talking about, what worries them, what they’re celebrating, the rises, the falls and who’s doing what.

Watching Waiwera’s waterslide tower tumble could be a real wow moment, right?

Not quite, as it turned out.

Demolition was more of a labour of love, slowly unpicking the structure from the top down, rather than one of those watchable videos where structures go ‘boom!’

Communications folk for Urban Partners which owns the Waiwera site had media on standby a few weeks ago, ready to call us north for the toppling of one of the more-loved towers. a place mainly of fun and joy.

Waiwera and the site of the thermal park now that most demolition is completed. Photo / Urban Partners

“We initially thought it would be a viewable moment, but my understanding is they actually had to dismantle it slowly over a couple of weeks, piece by piece,” a spokesman said.

Show me the money!

Developer Damien Taylor of Safari Group and some others in the property sector are expressing concern about several wholesale funds due to make large investor repayments in the next few months.

He wonders if they’ll be able to meet those repayment terms and conditions.

Others back him up, saying the penny will drop for many investors who risked their money in what will turn out to be illiquid equity. They had taken on real developer’s risk rather than supposedly secure debt.

Property Insider has been writing about commercial real estate since 1985, so has seen a few boom/bust cycles.

Let’s hope the concerns of Taylor and many others remain unfulfilled.

How’d you get a roof on that thing?

Where might a merged Foodstuffs be headquartered if it gets Commerce Commission consent next year to amalgamate South Island and North Island operations?

“No plans to pop the top of Landing Dr,” advised one insider with a smiley face.

Foodstuffs North Island's new HQ is at Auckland Airport's The Landing. Hard to re-roof this dramatic curved structure.

It would be hard, if not impossible, to add an extra floor to the dramatic Monk Mackenzie-designed new Foodstuffs (North Island) headquarters with its volcanic dome-style roof at The Landings, Māngere.

Seems there might indeed be no need for a giant “mothership” head office if that proposal succeeds.

Because it’s a co-operative, the huge business has support centre offices, rather than one head office, Property Insider was advised.

If the proposed merger goes ahead next year, a carefully planned transition would happen to integrate the various support centres. But that wouldn’t necessarily dismantle existing HQ bases around New Zealand.

The co-op would retain significant leadership capabilities in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch. All supply chain networks serving its members and customers would remain and operate as they do now, Property Insider learned.

The consolidation proposal is expected to raise significant market competition questions and a strong response from grocery sector participants.

Design lesson in great global architecture

Auckland’s Julie Stout, “architect, urbanist and activist for better cities”, travelled from winter to early summer, visiting some of the world’s greatest buildings.

Follow her at “juliemstout” on Instagram if you think you owe yourself a masterclass in great design.

Walt Disney Concert Hall is one of the big architectural draws to downtown LA. Photo / Getty Images For Sunday Travel - July 14

It’s certainly worth it. Stout is new to Instagram but sure made one heck of a debut.

She started in Los Angeles in June, taking in many buildings there including the contemporary art museum The Broad, then also on South Grand Ave, visiting the now 20-year-old Walt Disney Concert Hall designed by the great Frank Gehry.

Then she went to Europe: “I’d forgotten how radical the Guggenheim was and still is”.

Julie Stout started in June, visiting some of the world's greatest buildings. Photo / Nick Reed

When she got to London, she wrote: “I can’t leave fortress Britain without mentioning the Barbican. It encapsulates so much I’m interested in: the extraordinary upheavals faced by cities in time, in this case, the Blitz and the need to rebuild and house people at scale, the cultural/English perceptions of space mixed with European modernism and view of future living.”

Stout ended in Asia with some outstanding Taiwanese architecture.

It’s hard to do her writing and photographs justice here, so go take a look at her whirlwind trip: informative, inspirational and highly educational.

Speaking of great architecture, it’s only two days until Te Kāhui Whaihanga New Zealand Institute of Architects announces its national awards. On Thursday night around 9pm, we’ll learn what judges have found to be Aotearoa’s best new buildings, all drawn from local area regional winners.

Art and humour meet house advertising sign

Imagine selling one of this country’s most precious heritage buildings as a “luxurious subterranean family residence”.

Art mocks real estate advertising: a work at the NZ Sculpture OnShore, 170 Vauxhall Rd, Devonport. Photo / Anne Gibson

That is the joke being played on the thousands of people visiting NZ Sculpture OnShore, New Zealand’s largest and longest-running outdoor sculpture exhibition at O Peretu Fort Takapuna, 170 Vauxhall Rd, Devonport.

Bunker Down: Survival of the Fittest II is a sign or installation in the sculpture exhibition by Sally Kidall.

“Printed sign, website accessed via QR code + viewer’s imagination. Site-specific intervention. Commissions undertaken,” jokes the description showing how the red brick and concrete fort sunk into the ground below a hill could become your dream home.

The joke is that the buried history fort originally built to deal with the expected Russian invasion could be “sold”. Sad face, horrified face, shocked face emoji.

“Protect your loved ones from climate-related disasters, civil unrest and potential future pandemics within this luxurious underground bunker,” Kidall kids.

See this and 129 other works of art at this exhibition supporting Women’s Refuge.

It runs till this Sunday, 5pm.

Anne Gibson has been the Herald’s property editor for 23 years, has won many awards, written books and covered property extensively here and overseas.