NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Business / Personal Finance / Investment

Buyers jostling for real estate eyesore

Anne Gibson
By Anne Gibson
Property Editor·NZ Herald·
15 Mar, 2010 03:00 PM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Construction work on Ponsonby's Soho Square site could begin this year if a buyer is found. Photo / Steven McNicholl

Construction work on Ponsonby's Soho Square site could begin this year if a buyer is found. Photo / Steven McNicholl

Supermarket, retirement and healthcare businesses are lining up to buy Soho Square, Ponsonby's Strategic Finance-funded five-level eyesore.

The fate of Strategic, which went into receivership on Friday, hinges partly on the sale of one of its biggest real estate punts, the 1.3ha excavated site which is the subject of offers
due by April 8.

How much money receivers at PricewaterhouseCoopers recover for 13,000 investors hangs on the strength of the real estate market and partly on the efforts of Bruce Whillans, CB Richard Ellis' national director, and Richard Horne, senior managing director.

They are in charge of Soho's marketing campaign to quit the site bounded by Crummer Rd, Pollen St and Williamson Ave.

Whillans said yesterday he was dealing with inquiries from New Zealand-owned businesses jostling to buy.

The successful tenderer might start construction work there this year, he predicted, naming the supermarket, retirement village owner/operator and medical centre sectors.

The controversial Soho was to be a $250 million urban village and Ponsonby's newest shopping, apartment office and carparking centre.

But the development was heavily leveraged and strongly opposed by locals. Developer Layne Kells' Ponsonby Mall Trust went into receivership at the end of last year owing Fortress $24 million and Strategic $69.76 million.

Whillans and Horne are marketing Soho as being in New Zealand's most expensive suburb and the information memorandum tells buyers Kells' plans and shows how their advanced nature would allow a buyer to continue work on the project under the existing planning consents.

Property investors and businesses were keen but none planned to fill it in or restore the land, Whillans said.

"I'm probably working with about six groups who are interested in it," said the broker, under the instructions from Fortress, which wants its money back.

"There's approval there for 32,386sq m and all the people interested are looking to try to maximise the advantage of the existing resource consent approvals. No one is looking to fill it in. But businesses like retirement villages and supermarkets and medical centres all need extensive carparking. People are taking the view that the hole is there and you have to work with it," Whillans said.

Doubts hover over Strategic's subordinated portion of the property. Early indications are that it might recover only a portion of its loan.

"I'm absolutely confident Fortress will get their money back," Whillans said, emphasising he was not working for Strategic.

He said the strength of the property market was apparent from the 11 offers on the leasehold land at Beaumont Quarter. "The sector has changed. The developers who relied on mezzanine funders are gone. We have got a different breed of buyers and they have got money," he said.

Strategic froze repayments to about 13,000 investors owed $417 million in August 2008 and investors agreed to a moratorium in December 2008. But in January the business failed to make the first scheduled repayment to investors of 3.4c in the dollar, or $12 million.

The missed payment triggered a review and Perpetual Trust asked PricewaterhouseCoopers to step in on Friday.

CB Richard Ellis' information memorandum shows the property is zoned for mixed-use activities.

These include a care centre, welfare centre, educational facility, entertainment facility of less than 500sq m, funeral parlour, healthcare services, laboratories, non-permanent accommodation, offices, residential units, restaurants and cafes or retail premises up to 500sq m.

BIG BETS

Strategic funded:
* Soho Square, Ponsonby.
* Hilton in Fiji.
* Takapuna's Sentinel apartments.

Discover more

Opinion

What should be done with Ponsonby's $250m hole?

06 Dec 08:01 PM
Banking and finance

Strategic Finance goes into receivership

12 Mar 04:05 AM
Personal Finance

Strategic chief slams receivership

12 Mar 03:00 PM
Banking and finance

Investors 'will fare better' if firm is sold

15 Mar 03:00 PM
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Save

    Share this article

Latest from Investment

Premium
Business

Venture capital market hot again, Icehouse Ventures boss says, as new fund feeds on golden visas

Interest rates

Lower interest rates, more money printing - RBNZ considers response to ageing population

Premium
OpinionMary Holm

Mary Holm: Is there a way to pass on an inheritance without affecting benefits?


Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Investment

Premium
Premium
Venture capital market hot again, Icehouse Ventures boss says, as new fund feeds on golden visas
Business

Venture capital market hot again, Icehouse Ventures boss says, as new fund feeds on golden visas

A new seed fund raises half of its $30m target in a month.

15 Jul 05:00 PM
Lower interest rates, more money printing - RBNZ considers response to ageing population
Interest rates

Lower interest rates, more money printing - RBNZ considers response to ageing population

14 Jul 10:00 PM
Premium
Premium
Mary Holm: Is there a way to pass on an inheritance without affecting benefits?
Mary Holm
OpinionMary Holm

Mary Holm: Is there a way to pass on an inheritance without affecting benefits?

11 Jul 05:00 PM


Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

06 Jul 09:47 PM
NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP