Chantecler at 14 Lower Shotover Road Queenstown. Photo / James Allan
The $45.5 million sale of a Queenstown property eclipsed the $38.5m sale of an Auckland home but one local investor with experience buying and selling in the area said the southern deal was so large because the site has “such big development potential”.
Ex-National MP turned real estate agent, Hamish Walker of Walker & Co last month confirmed to OneRoof he was the agent who sold it.
Chantecler, a 19ha property at 14 Lower Shotover Road, was said to be a record for a residential price, beating the 2013 price of $38.5m paid for the former Hotchin home on Huriaro Place, Ōrākei, Auckland.
The place near Lake Hayes has a significant garden, open to appointment viewing: “Nestled in the heart of the Wakatipu Basin, Queenstown and surrounded by majestic snow-covered mountains lies Chantecler, a 40 acre property that includes 12 acres of mature gardens. Chantecler has been ‘themed’ to ensure visitors have a special experience,” its website says.
In 2022, owner Mike Henry gave an interview to the Otago Daily Times telling of the significance of the property to him and wife Maureen.
The entrepreneur was reported as having left the business world behind in Auckland in 2006 to vastly expand the gardens on the property. The couple had also transformed an original Ōamaru stone bungalow into a French-inspired home.
Henry told the Herald yesterday that the property had been sold in 2023 but he and Maureen would remain there until the end of this year. However, they were getting older, he acknowledged.
“We’ve never been trying to sell our place and when it did sell, it was off market. It’s a long settlement but he paid,” Henry said of the buyer.
He also explained how the property had been split into two titles but said he was reluctant to discuss sales details.
One local said it was obvious why it had sold for so much: “It’s flat, in a great location near Lake Hayes and is going to be developed into hundreds of homes.”
In January 2022, the Ministry for the Environment released information about the Flints Park West plan by New Zealand-incorporated company Glenpanel Development, considered under the Covid-19 Recovery (Fast-Track Consenting) Act 2020.
The developers planned to subdivide 8.6ha of an 18.4ha site and build “approximately 315 residential units, or approximately 180 residential units if a school and a church/chapel is developed”.
Supporting infrastructure and roads and public open space are planned.
The project is located at 14 Lower Shotover Rd, Lake Hayes Estate, according to the ministry document, released under the Official Information Act.
The property has frontages to the Frankton Ladies Mile Highway, which is State Highway 6.
At the same time, the ministry also released information about Glenpanel, Ladies Mile Te Pūtahi by developer Maryhill.
That project is to subdivide a further 95.9ha of land and build about 450 new homes, or 365 if a school and childcare centre are developed, a 214-unit retirement village, commercial buildings and infrastructure like roads and public open space. That project is at 429 Frankton Ladies Mile Highway.
The local said the sale of the Lower Shotover property for $45.5m was not a shock to anyone in the area due to the immense development potential of such a site, in close proximity to the wider plans.
“The price was big because the sale included so much flat land adjacent to the house but the house itself and its site is probably worth $10m to $15m,” the local estimated.
Anne Gibson has been the Herald’s property editor for 25 years, written books and covered property extensively here and overseas.