Auckland real estate agent under investigation for running Remuera Rd car park without consent

78 Remuera Road in 2018 prior to demolition picture supplied credit: Google https://www.google.com/maps/@-36.8722209,174.7803493,3a,75y,38.39h,86.53t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sfudqIzlUwlkOA

An Auckland real estate agent and auctioneer is under investigation by Auckland Council after pulling down two 100-year-old houses and replacing them with a car park.

Mark Sumich bought the neighbouring 1910 homes at 78 and 80 Remuera Rd in March 2007 for $1.085m each, according to property records.

Their current CV is a combined $2.75m.

The properties were torn down in recent months and replaced with an 18 space car park.

Sumich told the Herald last week the properties had been run down and it was uneconomic to bring them up to new Government standards.

"So we thought we'd just get rid of them and try our hand at car parking."

However, Sumich may have fallen foul of Auckland Council.

A spokeswoman confirmed no consent had been obtained to operate the car park and the matter was now under investigation by council staff.

"As it appears a commercial carpark is operating at the Remuera Rd site without consent, council's compliance team is now investigating.

"The team will carry out a site visit and conduct any further inquiries needed to determine if Unitary Plan rules are being breached."

The spokeswoman said council records showed no past complaints regarding parking or non-compliance at the site.

Speaking to the Herald last night, Sumich said he wasn't aware he needed consent to operate a car park.

"I wasn't under that impression but everyone tells me different things every day. You're giving me information that I haven't heard before."

Sumich said he had been more concerned about getting the necessary demolition permits when the properties were torn down, which he had obtained.

He said he would await a call from council officers before deciding his next step.

This is the second time a Remuera Rd property owner has been investigated by Auckland Council for tearing down an old home and putting in a car park without obtaining the necessary consents.

In 2016 the Herald reported that a grand, century-old Mediterranean-inspired house at number 62 had been knocked down and transformed into a 30-lot parking area.

The house was sold September 2012 for $1.86 million. QV documents show the buyer was Ganzhong Ni.

It is understood the new owner and his family briefly lived in the property before bulldozing the house in 2015, clearing the site and turning it into a 30-lot car park next door to Newmarket police station.

After being alerted to the car park by the Herald, Auckland Council compliance staff contacted the owners as the site did not have consent for commercial parking.

Remuera carparks

The latest council investigation follows revelations in the Herald that four historic properties on Remuera Rd have all been bulldozed and turned into car parks in recent years.

They are all within a stone's throw of each other, at 62, 75, 78 and 80 Remuera Rd. The properties are collectively valued at almost $10 million.

The street is the gateway to one of the nation's rare $2m suburbs but the historic homes' fate have raised questions about how the city values its heritage.