Developer Richard Kroon says his $150 million Victoria Lane project will bring a new level of luxury to one of Auckland’s wealthiest suburbs.
Ron Macrae’s CMP Construction is finishing the Remuera development, due for completion around October.
Kroon, who started out in the building business as a tradesman, says the five-level building will have 23 apartments, with 52 basement car parks running the full length underground.
The block is called Victoria Lane because it is on Victoria Ave and a narrow paved walkway or lane leads from the building directly to Remuera Rd.
A porte-cochere with a grand 7m internal height will connect two parts of the building and reception and dual lobbies lead off that.
Minimalist details like the cream stone cladding aim to create a strong visual statement in the area.
The basement has 50 charging stations with its own transformer. Apartments have stone fireplaces, Miele kitchen appliances, induction cooktops, stone benchtops and splashbacks, aged brass extractor hood covers and butler’s pantries.
Of the 23 units, 10 per cent deposits have been paid on 19 places, says Kroon. That money is held in a trust account with lawyers Hornabrook MacDonald, and purchases are due to settle at the end of October.
The block is near the corner of Remuera Rd and Victoria Ave, one commercial/retail building back from the main street. Design is by Leuschke Group Architects and the interiors are by James Doole.
The 19 apartments pre-sold for $3m to nearly $18m but by the time the building is finished, Kroon expects a valuation nearer $20m on the best penthouses.
Piles of 90cm diameter go down 12m. Three lifts will be installed.
Kroon says: “As soon as the sign went up outside, people inquired.” Most buyers already live within about 1km of the project, have an average age of 55 to 60 and many are couples, with some singles.
Kroon says he was a qualified plumber, gasfitter and roofer by the time he was 19 and has worked in construction all his life. Chancery in the Auckland CBD, Mt Eden apartments Eden Green, Ponsonby’s Three Lamps shops and The Pinnacle apartments in Remuera are among his other projects.
His development site is long and narrow: about 100m long by 20m wide, but widening towards the western end. It has neighbours on three sides and was previously home to Plunket and another existing building.
But getting consent for Victoria Lane wasn’t entirely easy: Kroon went to the High Court against neighbours who didn’t want a tower crane swinging over the top of their property. Those neighbours are across a vehicle laneway from the construction site.
The case of Victoria Lane Remuera v Harry Robert Ivan White, Christine White and others was heard in August 2021 and the judge ruled in Kroon’s favour. Building the apartments at 4 and 4A Victoria Ave would mean using a flat-top tower crane. Its main boom and counterweight would occasionally pass over adjoining properties, 33m above ground, the decision said.
But 31 people’s and entities’ properties are under the slew path of the main boom, so Kroon approached everyone seeking consent. Some agreed, but others were opposed or were silent.
Victoria Lane sought a court order authorising it to enter and re-enter the neighbouring properties’ airspace by using the crane. But neighbours Harry and Christine White of 6 Victoria Ave were opposed, saying half their house lay under the crane’s path.
The applicant and CMP had satisfied all necessary pre-start conditions imposed by the council. Two existing houses were demolished and all potentially contaminated material was removed. An application for building consent was lodged with the council on December 3, 2020.
Victoria Lane got funding for construction from First Mortgage Custodians. Kroon, the sole director, said First Mortgage Custodians would not advance funds for the works until all of the various pre-conditions in the construction contract had been met.
One of those conditions was getting all necessary consents and access rights. If the company could not draw down funding once CMP was ready to begin construction, the development could stall, Kroon said in evidence. There was a risk that the funding could be cancelled. Delay to the project could also impact Victoria Lane because, according to Kroon, at least six of the sale and purchase agreements with buyers had “sunset” clauses. Purchasers could have voided the agreements if there was any significant delay. If Victoria Lane lost the benefit of these pre-sale agreements, then its funding would be at risk, the decision said.
But now, construction is underway. Pre-cast concrete panels made in Whangārei were transported by truck to the development site. Each panel weighs 5.6 tonnes and the crane had to be large enough to lift them. It would be possible to use smaller, lighter panels but this would increase the time taken to complete the construction works and add considerable cost to the project.
Given that the site is 100m long, if the crane was placed in the centre, it must be capable of lifting 5.6 tonnes at a distance of 50m from the tower. The requirement dictates the size of crane that is necessary, the court heard.
Andrew Moore of CMP said mobile or crawler cranes couldn’t be used because of the site. A mobile crane wouldn’t have been able to lift the weights needed.
Kroon said this month that the Remuera project is high-spec.
“The basement alone has cost $10m,” he said, referring to earthworks and engineering including new water connections routed across to Garden Rd which avoided him having to develop detention tanks the size of swimming pools in his basement.
“I’ve been doing this all my life and I’m an expert in water and roofing engineering.”
Next month, he will celebrate his 70th birthday.
Kroon has a long history in the development business.
Working with Westmark, he was one of the developers of the CBD’s Chancery shopping/restaurant centre with Brian Mead. The late Mark Lyon also worked on that. He was the property millionaire, meth addict, who died last year after being sentenced to 15 years in prison for drug and sex-related offences, including against girls as young as 14.
The Victoria Ave resident has been working in property all his life, having started with Ron Macrae’s father, Bernie, working on building sites in Kerikeri.
For him, property has been a passion. Now, his focus is on Victoria Lane’s completion, the last sales and the handover to new residents.
Auckland crane numbers fell to an eight-year low.