Highburn at Birkenhead, in the hands of a new owner.
Highburn at Birkenhead, in the hands of a new owner.
Hong Kong investors have bought Highbury Shopping Centre on the North Shore for $40 million, according to a lawyer acting for them.
Chris Moore, an Auckland lawyer who represents the owners and New Zealand Law Society immediate past president, said his clients had bought the property and planned to improve it but not undertake a major redevelopment.
"They're based in Hong Kong," said Moore, of Greenwood Roche.
Strand Corporate Trustee's name now appears on the title, connected to Christopher Patrick Eisdell Moore and Nigel Richard Arkell. Moore said he and Arkell were acting as trustees.
The new owners would not carry out the big apartment tower plans once envisaged by New Zealand Retail Property Group, Moore said.
"They are not developers but their intentions for the property are to upgrade it. They have a very good track record and they're happy to put money into it.
"They don't own any other shopping centres. But they reinvest rents from properties and improve them. The intention is to try to improve the look and feel of the it," Moore said, referring to plans to fix leaks and engage consultants including architects.
Records show the Birkenhead mall is 13,941sq m on an 18,632sq m site at 50 Birkenhead Ave.
The building's age is put at 1990-1999, the site has 682 car parks and is zoned commercial.
The last official sale price is put at $40m and the last official sale data is listed at December 8 last year.
Stores trading there include The Warehouse, KFC, PaperPlus, Rodney Wayne, banks and a Countdown supermarket.
The property is freehold and has a rating valuation of $35,750,000 with land worth $22,358,000 and improvements of $13,392,000, records show.
Campbell Barbour, NZ Retail Property Group general manager, yesterday said the sale had settled in May.
What NZRPG planned at Highbury, a plan now ditched.
The previous owners are listed on records as Birkenhead Shopping Centre, Highbury Ltd, Westgate No 2 and Highbury (2017) Ltd.
NZRPG had big hopes for the mall, planning to expand the retail offering and building apartment towers there.
Strand Corporate Trustee owns a number of properties including the historic and distinctive Vulcan Building on the corner of Queen St and Vulcan Lane as well as the Chancery Carpark in the CBD.
No Overseas Investment Office approval was needed for the Birkenhead deal which did not involve sensitive land or asset values of more than $100m.
