The concrete building dates back to the 1960s, and began life as motels but has been converted into five levels of apartments, which tend to be tightly held. It has been a year since one was on the market.
Often the units are personalised with details such as stained glassin front windows or a customised front door, noticeable as you walk up the stairs and around the balconies which wrap outside the rectangular central courtyard.
Trees add greenery to this urban space.
Claire Page bought her third-level apartment eight and a half years ago as an investment property.
"We were looking for something and a good friend owned three in this block, and was very pleased with them," she says. "We were told this one was coming up for sale and we ended up buying it."
Claire kept the existing tenant and says it has always been easy to find one.
The last tenant has just moved out after five years -- but she isn't going far -- she is staying in the same block.
"The apartments are great because they are an older block and also they have a very well-run body corp, plus the body corp rates are not extortionate," says Claire. "We have an onsite manager, Katrina, who lives downstairs. She is always there if we have any problems or queries."
Claire says because most people living in the apartments have been here long-term, there is a true community feeling.
The apartment's layout is simple with the open-plan living area as you come in -- the kitchen on the right.
Claire put in a new kitchen and opened up this area to the lounge as these rooms were more divided when she first bought the apartment.
She also put Gib board over the internal concrete block walls.
"The whole block is breeze block," she says.
Apart from that initial outlay, maintenance has involved only "titivating the interior" to freshen it between tenancies. Flooring is a wood-patterned vinyl in the kitchen and bathroom (which has a shower and toilet); carpet in the living area and bedroom.
The bedroom has sliding doors that allow it to be open to the lounge or closed for privacy. Another sliding door separates the bedroom and bathroom.
Each level of apartments has a laundry so there's no need to have a washing machine or dryer in the apartment.
308/9 Sarawia Street, Newmarket. Photo / supplied
From Claire's apartment you can see over the cityscape to Newmarket, the top of the Auckland War Memorial Museum and across to Grafton and Auckland Grammar. The apartment is in the double grammar zone.
Claire's apartment sale doesn't include a car park but she says because the apartment is close to Newmarket and Parnell plus public transport, tenants often have not owned a car. Sometimes it's possible to rent a car park in the apartments from another owner.
