Mark Hiddleston outside the strip of buildings Peninsula Capital has bought and is buying. Photo / supplied
The son of the late John Spencer, once New Zealand’s richest man, and two others are buying part of a block of heritage Devonport properties valued at $40 million-plus, planning longer-term redevelopment.
A company controlled by Stanley Point’s fiercely private Berridge Spencer, heir to the paper-manufacturing Caxton fortune, owns 50.1 per cent of Peninsula Capital, the three-year-old company buying 10 properties fronting the village main street, as well as other properties.
Interests associated with two ex-ANZ bosses - Mark Hiddleston and Graham Turley - own the other half of the company that is buying real estate valued by the Auckland Council at $40m+.
Hiddleston said Peninsula was buying almost all the properties in one block on the main street, flanked by the ex-council building at the waterfront end and Clarence St at the Takarunga end, all opposite the Devonport Library.
Peninsula has already bought the ex-Devonport Borough Council building at 3 Victoria Rd from the council’s Eke Panuku agency, and in a statement said it would settle many other properties next month.
Most are in the block bounded by the main street, which is Victoria Rd, Wynyard St - which runs parallel to that - and a side street of retail premises, cafes and bars on Clarence St.
Peninsula is buying 10 properties from Vista Linda, which has owned those for years and whose chief Antonio Regueiro-Diaz died last year.
It confirmed the purchases in a statement, saying the company’s backers included two Devonport residents with long-term family connections to the area.
That was in reference to Turley and Spencer. The latter owns Waiheke Island’s award-winning Man O’War vineyard, as well as many properties in Auckland.
Hiddleston and an associated trust are shareholders along with Spencer’s Point 76, based out of Clime Asset Management in the Viaduct Harbour, and Stanley Point’s Turley via his Ngataringa 98 company.
Hiddleston was ANZ’s managing director for commercial, agriculture, UDC and property finance. Turley was ANZ’s former commercial managing director and a former institutional banking head for ANZ in Australia.
All three are Peninsula’s directors of the company, which was registered in 2020 as an investment business.
In 2017, the National Business Review’s rich list assessed the Spencer family’s financial wealth at $720m.
Separately, Berridge Spencer’s companies own around 17 residential titles on about 1.5 hectares of Stanley Point Rd, estimated to be worth around $50m and where he built a new house in the last two years.
Devonport properties bought/being bought by Peninsula Capital
All but one purchase is due to settle next month.
The properties, with 2021 council valuations, are:
3 Victoria Rd, ex-Devonport Borough Council building, already bought from Eke Panuku, 2021 valuation $3.4m;
5-15 Victoria Rd: many shops, cafes including The Devonport Public House bar, Jack Scott Arcade and its many shops, a former stationery store now empty, BookMark second-hand books. Upstairs tenancies include apartments and dentist Geoff Lee. Total valued at $11.7m.
17-19 Victoria Rd, Devonport Arts and Gifts and Catch 22 takeaways, $3.3m;
21 Victoria Rd, ex-ASB Bank, vacant shop, $2.9m;
23-25 Victoria Rd, Blue Illusion and Annah Stretton, $3.45m;
24 Victoria Rd, Signal Hill bar and restaurant $2.8m;
33 Victoria Rd, Devonport Pharmacy, $4.9m;
41 Victoria Rd, empty, previously a cafe and bar, $1.9m;
43 Victoria Rd, Ray White, $1.47m;
45 Victoria Rd, ex-Westpac premises, corner Clarence St, $2.8m;
1-3 Wynyard St, Wynyard Street Motors, valued at $2.85m;
12 Wynyard St, Lily Eatery cafe, $1.1m;
19-21 Clarence St, Liquorland, Devonport Dry Cleaners, $3.5m;
8-10 Birkenhead Ave, Birkenhead, $4m;
Total valuation as at 2021: $43.72m.
Peninsula intends development eventually but won’t say when.
“Right now, we want to preserve our tenancies. But over time, we see ourselves as being a catalyst for the rejuvenation of Devonport,” Hiddleston said.
The company had no grand master plan, architects or planners. Properties were coming up for sale which aren’t usually available, he said.
“This was sadly an estate that Antonio had a vision for Devonport but sadly he was never able to deliver on that,” Hiddleston said.
The company was not aiming at a quick-flick approach to its investment but had plenty of time to make plans.
Apartments, shops and offices were ideas for the longer term. Any redevelopment then would be “as it is today, some apartments for rent with retail tenancies on the ground floor. Anything we will do eventually could be a mixed-use but right now, it’s falling down. There are earthquake risks and deterioration”.
The company did not own every building on the stretch. Other owners had some buildings in between.
“We are long-term investors and we are passionate about Devonport. We see a great opportunity to work with the community to protect and enhance Devonport’s history and heritage and to invest in the future of the village. Our commitment is to be long-term owners, investors and custodians who will help support Devonport to continue to grow and thrive, and ensure it meets the needs of the community and local businesses,” Hiddleston said.
The company’s founders came together two years ago after long careers in banking and investing.
“Any long-term plans for these properties will likely take several years to develop, and in the meantime, it’s business as usual for tenants. Once we have settled on these properties at the end of June, we look forward to engaging with the local community and stakeholders,” Hiddleston said.
“We are proud to be investing in Devonport Village and we hope our long-term commitment is a catalyst for the rejuvenation of this much-loved area.”
Chris Darby, one of two North Shore councillors, does not think the proposed Plan Change 78 would change much of the Auckland Unitary Plan (AUP) substantially.
Height limits in the village are around nine metres or about three levels of buildings, with the possibility to go higher under certain circumstances.
Darby was enthusiastic about the purchases.
“There’s a real demand for more living in the village. For the viability of the village, it does need more people as residents bringing 24/7 life to the village.
“If Peninsula Capital is coming forward with a development proposal, that would have some real upside for the village. If a sensitive plan was formed, honouring the heritage values of the village and respecting the place of the maunga Takuranga, I think there’s scope within the AUP to develop something that really contributes to the village.”
Retention of heritage buildings would be important, he said.
“I’m encouraged by the arrival of new owners which espouse to being active investors with development ideas that give Devonport Village a much-needed lift. The viability of village businesses can only be improved when the portfolio of historic buildings receive an overdue spruce-up, coupled with discrete well-designed housing choice tucked in behind,” Darby said.
A cornerstone portfolio also allows the new owner to develop a retail strategy that fits future-ready businesses into the village, where new businesses complement rather than compete with the existing businesses, he said.
Vista Linda’s Antonio Regueiro-Diaz died in the last year and the business had been slowly selling some houses in the area.
Margot McRae of Devonport Heritage said all the old buildings were protected from demolition and any changes must go through the resource consent process.
“There are strict height limits of 9m in the main street but some buildings in Wynyard St can go to 13m,” she said.
Most of the heritage buildings could need seismic strengthening “but they have years yet before it has to be carried out”.
Residents and visitors appreciated the enormous historic value of the Victoria Rd centre and would strenuously oppose any attempt to make changes not in keeping with the area, she warned.
The society would be happy to talk to any new owner, particularly about how to protect the buildings, McRae said.
It was a lifestyle of flashy opulence - until the money ran out.