Site the spur for Met developer

By Julia Oakley

The historic and architectural charm of the old Whitcombe & Tombs building in Durham Lane is being transformed into The Met - 63 loft-style apartments for Auckland's character-conscious singles market.

Built during the First World War and designed by Chitwell & Trevithick Architects, the building is one of four of the city's classical Edwardian gems secured by the developer for refurbishment. The other properties - the Lewis Eady building, 200 Queen Street and the smaller building next to Whitcoulls - will be remodelled by Brown Day Architects as office space.

The Met's existing high stud ceilings and big windows have inspired the cosy, loft-style apartment designs by Hulena Co Architects that are very New York, with studio, one-bedroom or two-bedroom options and a look of "unpretentious sophistication." For prices ranging from $102,000 for a studio to $199,000 for a two-bedroom apartment on the top floor, residents will be right in the palpitating heart of the inner-city, with High Street at the end of the lane and a cafe and bar at their doorstep.

Developer Greg Wilkinson of Axis Property Group, whose portfolio also includes the new Sebel Hotel at Viaduct Harbour (due for completion later this month) and the Parks on Domain apartments in Parnell (currently at stage one construction), says he acquired the properties for one reason - the old real estate agent's catch-cry: location.

"They back on to High Street, which is going through enormous growth ... there's a huge amount of investment going into the area, with Metropolis and the Chancery Square redevelopment. That middle part of the city is really starting to come into its own."

The first stage of the redevelopment to be completed was retail, with Queen Street and High Street storefronts, including Glassons, being sold to property syndicators St Lawrence Group for $10.9 million. Construction is almost complete on an arcade linking Durham Lane with Whitcoulls.

"We started with the retail because that established the value for the area and set a precedent for the standard of what we were going to put above it," says Wilkinson.

"We decided to focus on apartments because of the character of the building and because we felt there was a void in the market for that sort of product - something a little bit cheaper and trendier, and catering for the $100,000-$200,000 buyer."

Sales so far, through Kellands, have proven Wilkinson's appraisal of The Met apartment concept as "very today" to be right on the button.

"They've sold well, above expectations," he says. "We're selling about a couple a day at the moment. Which is a bit different from what the rest of the market is doing, so we're quite pleased about that."

The only downside, given the still-lamentable state of Auckland's public transport system, is the lack of parking space - none comes with an apartment purchase. But that inconvenience is offset by cheaper prices that position The Met within reach of young singles looking to buy themselves a piece of the action in the central city.

"Because we haven't got carparks we decided to focus on those people who would be looking for cheaper living in town, whereas if we got into a more expensive price range we'd have to be considering carparks and other services. So we've just gone for something a little bit different," explains Wilkinson.

"We felt there was really nothing similar on offer on the market, although there were some similar developments that sold up on Lorne Street a couple of years ago that were still getting good resale value. We knew we were offering something that was a lot more today, and they've gone particularly well."

Buyers at The Met have been a mix of owner-occupiers and investors. "We felt it would probably appeal more to investors because of the returns you can get off small units in the city, but we've actually had a huge number of people looking to live there themselves," says Wilkinson.

"They're perhaps renting in the city at the moment and are looking to buy. And then there are people who perhaps live out of town and are looking for the convenience of having a place in the city."