CCTV footage has been shown to a jury showing the moment the fatal fire in Loafers Lodge was discovered.
A high-profile Wellington property developer has announced he is purchasing the site of a former hostel where a fire claimed five lives.
The Loafers Lodge building in Newtown was gutted by an early morning fire in May 2023.
It has sat derelict ever since and resident Esarona Lologa was href="https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/wellington/loafers-lodge-murders-esarona-lologa-to-be-sentenced-for-killing-five-in-fire/A3ULLUNRDJBHXDF5WEKF46JGFI/" target="_self" rel="" title="https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/wellington/loafers-lodge-murders-esarona-lologa-to-be-sentenced-for-killing-five-in-fire/A3ULLUNRDJBHXDF5WEKF46JGFI/">sentenced to life imprisonment on five counts of murder and one of arson late last year.
Rich-list developer Eyal Aharoni has today confirmed his company, Primeproperty Group, signed a conditional contract to purchase the property in December.
“Settlement has not yet taken place, and Primeproperty has not taken possession of the site. Settlement is currently scheduled for later this year,” a statement by the company said.
Esarona Lologa was sentenced in the High Court at Wellington for murdering five people. Photo / Pool
“At this stage, Primeproperty Group is undertaking preliminary investigations and technical studies to understand the site and assess potential development options.”
Aharoni has not yet decided on what to do with the building, and no applications for resource consent have been lodged with the council.
“The purchase price is commercially sensitive and will not be disclosed at this time.”
A number of people involved in the boarding houses management have been charged with manslaughter, the case is yet to go to trial.
“The matter is still before the courts and has not yet concluded,” the company said, “as a result, Primeproperty Group is unable to comment further on the case or its implications for the transaction.”
The trial for Lologa stretched over several weeks in the High Court at Wellington last year, with multiple survivors as well as emergency service staff giving emotional evidence from the witness box.
Lologa had been living at the hostel for about a week, having absconded from an Auckland mental health facility, before he set fire to the property, killing multiple people.
At trial, he claimed a defence of insanity, saying voices told him to light the fire. But the jury rejected his claims, finding he knew what he was doing was wrong despite his diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia.
Eyal Aharoni is strengthening and redeveloping the long-shuttered Courtenay Pl Reading Cinema Complex.
Aharoni is known for developing some of the capital’s most notorious vacant buildings.
He featured on the NBR rich list with a net worth of $550 million, has lived in Wellington since 1988.
Ethan Manera is a Wellington-based journalist covering Wellington issues, local politics and business in the capital. He can be emailed at ethan.manera@nzme.co.nz.
