Company LB HC – understood to stand for Lyall Bay Holding Company and directed by Jackson and partner Dame Fran Walsh with their Wingnut company as ultimate shareholder – acquired seven of eight properties in the block bordered by Kingsford Smith St, Lyall Parade, Tirangi Rd and McGregor St.
The final piece of the puzzle, 7 McGregor St, became the centre of a horseshoe of Jackson-owned properties. It was owned by E tū union and, until earlier this month, had been used as its headquarters. A sale agreement had been signed, but all parties were tight-lipped as to the identity of the buyer.
The deal settled on September 11 and property records now show the new owner is LB HC.
E tū appears to have secured a tidy premium when selling, with Jackson recorded as paying $4.2 million for the 933-square-metre site and office building. Its rateable value is listed at $2.52m and the union’s 2022 annual accounts filed to the Companies Register recorded its value as $2.68m.
The recently vacated E tū building on McGregor St, in Rongotai, Wellington, was sold to a company controlled by Sir Peter Jackson for $4.2m. Photo / Mark Mitchell
E tū national secretary Bill Newson said in a statement: “We have been exploring the option of moving for some time, as a more central location makes us more accessible to our members across the Wellington region. The sale was approved by our member-led National Executive, and our members have been informed about the move.”
The combined block now wholly owned by Jackson has a land area of 6238sqm and a rateable value of $20m.
Questions sent to a representative of Jackson and Walsh regarding their plans for the site were not answered.
Former owners on the block have speculated the site might be used to develop the filmmakers’ long-sought movie museum.
The block purchase is part of a flurry of real estate activity by Jackson since his $1.355 billion windfall in late 2021 when technology developed by his Weta Digital special effects business was sold to software giant Unity.
Earlier this year, Jackson spent $8.5m on a Queenstown holiday home and adjoining section, extending his string of holdings in Closeburn to 34 hectares.
A Herald investigation into his property holdings – both personal homes and movie business premises – found that, after recent appreciation and acquisitions, they now total $350m, up from $150m in 2018.
Last month Jackson and Walsh bought the controversial Shelly Bay site in Wellington for an undisclosed sum, after having spent nearly a decade backing opponents of developers who wanted to build 350 homes on the former navy base.
Matt Nippert is an Auckland-based investigations reporter covering white-collar and transnational crimes and the intersection of politics and business. He has won more than a dozen awards for his journalism - including twice being named Reporter of the Year - and joined the Herald in 2014 after having spent the decade prior reporting from business newspapers and national magazines.
