Telecom buyout

Telecom's property services division has been bought by its three senior executives, but the former divisional manager, Anthony Robertson, says there will be little immediate difference.

Robertson and the two line of business managers responsible for commercial portfolio management, Richard Hanson, and project management, Keith Mitchell, settled on April 1 but still have some staff issues to resolve.

They will retain offices in Auckland and Wellington, about 20 staff and continue to manage Telecom's property assets and liabilities, but do not get to own the
properties.

"It's not a cost-driven issue, it's a behaviour and transparency-driven issue,"
Robertson explained this week. He expects Telecom to get more appropriate service, value and quality and significantly improved real estate decisions.

He says if a service is provided as a matter of course its value is not instantly apparent, but that changes when the provider is separately accountable. Fleet management is likely to be Telecom's next breakout in this fashion.

The property team continues to rationalise premises following AmTrust Pacific's purchase of the Karangahape Plaza last year, which involved an ongoing partnership between landlord and Telecom as office tower tenant in an upgrade.

Evidence of the rationalisation is the withdrawal by subsidiary Netway Communications from 4400 sq m on seven floors of the Phillips Fox Tower in the National Bank Centre on Queen St, which Colliers Jardine has up for lease.

A break clause in the lease enables Netway to move its 250 staff out.

Dance of the gavels

Auckland's auctioneers seem to be on a circular waltz ... Mike Williams announced he was leaving Barfoot & Thompson at the end of March, after six years at an increasingly hectic pace.

This week he turned up at Colliers Jardine, for which he has done some work before. Williams will focus on commercial property after dealing mostly with residential down on Commerce St.

At Barfoots, Tony Worsp will continue as marketing and administration manager and Williams' former understudy, Cameron Miller-Randle, will handle auctions in the north and west. Two newcomers are Brett Trigger for the eastern
suburbs and Marian Tolich for central and southern.

Bayleys' longtime auctioneer, Ross Foreman, who quit about two years ago to do his own thing, including auctioneer training, did the BNZ portfolio for Colliers but started fulltime at Harcourts this week.

In commercial agency, LJ Hooker Commercial's franchise holders, Frank McGuckian and Glenn Jonas, are branching out from the North Shore base of Swann Archer, which they bought from Ian Munro four years ago. They are taking on Bill Turner, who will move from his Manurewa Hookers residential office to run a Manukau commercial branch.


Architects merge

Prominent Auckland architect John Sinclair has merged his firm with up-and-coming group Architectus.

The merger, going through this month, combines the experience of Sinclair, who has run his practice for about 30 years, and what he describes as "a very bright firm, new and extremely good."

Among Architectus' notable projects are the water's edge design for the Auckland City Council around the Viaduct Basin and beyond, a brief the firm secured after a council competition, and the new computer science building at Canterbury University, where its innovative design saved $1 million on services.

Sinclair's stamp is on many city buildings, from Lumley House on City Rd through the former Finance Centre and down to Ceramco House on Fort St.

Margin tightens

Stephen Partridge thought he had a pretty good deal when he bought a little T-shaped building on Kingston St, opposite the Auckland District Court for $1.2 million late in 1997, but the time taken to get it tenanted cuts the margin.

The four floors of No 4 Kingston St cost him $1.2 million, he is spending about $300,000 refurbishing and says he would sell for $1.7 million. Meanwhile his first tenant, Cafe Crema, opens in a week and two office floors will be ready for partitioning in a fortnight, potentially for five tenants a floor on rent of about $200 to $250 a week.

Part of his delay was caused when Club No 1 was planned for the building, but the buyer did not proceed. The building was previously in apartments, but lacked proper fire egress.

Partridge, with long experience in city and fringe refurbishments, says he is leaving the top floor of the 10,000 sq ft (930 sq m) building for a tenant to choose the style. ÒYou want a tenant to come and say, ÔI want this.

"They might want a mezzanine and a garden on the roof and you do it."

He had expected lawyers to jump at the opportunity but they haven't been convinced. By comparison, a small building on Upper Queen St which Partridge has done up for sale got four offers on the first weekend.

"The small stuff is moving better," he says.