Waiwera locals decry 'bloody mess': what it's like inside the resort.
A new report is out on the finances of the company that once leased and operated the Waiwera Thermal Resort and Spa north of Auckland.
Tony Maginness and Jared Booth of liquidators Staples Rodway yesterday issued their latest update on the state of the business, which once had big plansfor the long-shut resort.
They were appointed in February 2019 after a High Court ruling.
The once-popular resort is in a decrepit state after its abrupt closure in 2018. That was said to be for renovations, but work eventually ceased and the property has sunk into an increasingly parlous state with drained or murky pools, piles of dirt, litter and overgrown gardens.
The new report out yesterday lists no realisations or money coming in during the past six months. But between 2019 and February 14 this year, the liquidators had sold fixed assets for $22,000 and received tax refunds for the company of $100,000 from Inland Revenue, a statement shows.
Liquidator fees during that period so far are $103,000 and legal feesare a further $18,600.
Landowners Urban Partners last year tried to sell the site but haven’t announced success on that front yet and its website still lists Waiwera as one of its assets.
The Waiwera pools north of Auckland when the facility was open. Photo / Greg Bowker
“Urban Partners has always treasured this site and we acknowledge the vibrant wellness industry is not our core expertise, hence we are seeking an external party who can ensure the site delivers an operation commensurate with the location and its wider natural attributes,” the website says today, quoting the company’s Doug Osborne.
He said last year the business was on the hunt for buyers.
“We have always had high ambitions and the best of intentions for this wonderfully unique freehold location and its thermal waters and now that the main issues behind the protracted delays have been resolved, we are happy to confirm we are marketing the site to those interested in partnering, developing, or purchasing this world-class wellness destination,” Osborne said.
Waiwera Thermal Resort. Photo / Anne Gibson
In 2018, the Herald reported a giant Australasian leisure business, which runs 10 New Zealand pools, wanted to talk to the land owners. Damian Gorman, business development manager of the Victorian-headquartered Belgravia Health & Leisure Group, said his business was interested in starting the discussions.
But nothing further came of that either.
Today, Companies Office records show the directors of the Waiwera Thermal Resort company are Leon Fingerhut of the United States and Mikhail Khimich of St Heliers, Auckland. Booth of Staples Rodway said last year the company had been advised Khimich had reportedly caught Covid and died in Russia.
the first liquidators’ report in March 2019 said the company owed creditors around $5m.
Khimich arrived in New Zealand in 2008, but left behind failed ventures and an aborted drink-driving trial.
Colliers was appointed to try to find the buyer or partner to either purchase the Urban Partners’ stake or enter a joint venture with that local business headed by Haydn Staples who is an accountant and director.
Josh Coburn, Colliers’ director of site sales, said last year there was a demand for land in coastal areas.
The opportunity to redevelop a coastal enclave near Auckland was a unique prospect, he said.
“Waiwera offers what no other property in New Zealand can: a coastal development of scale, within 45 minutes of Auckland’s CBD, with the benefit of a rare geothermal bore. Our marketing campaign will seek local and international expressions of interest to see this potential realised,” Coburn said last April.
He was selling the 4.5ha site with Blair Peterken. As well as the hot pools, the Waiwera Holiday Park and the ex-hotel site were up for sale.
Site 1 at 41-53 Waiwera Rd is 10,603sq m zoned Business – Mixed Use and home of the original Waiwera Hotel dating back to the late 1800s.
Site 2 at 21-37 Waiwera Rd is 17,296sq m of Business – Mixed Use Zone land and is the Waiwera Thermal Resort and Spa.
Site 3 was the Waiwera Holiday Park, 37 Waiwera Pl, 17,781sq m zoned Residential – Mixed Housing Suburban.
Neither agent could be reached by deadline for comment about the sales campaign.
