Millennium & Copthorne silent on Whangārei hotel plans due to NZX rules

The site at 8-10 Dent St, Whangārei, is set side for a hotel development, with international hotel chain Millennium & Copthorne Hotels staying mum on its plans, for now, due to legal requirements. Photo / Mike Dinsdale

A big international hotel chain is keeping quiet on its plans for a four-star hotel in Whangārei for now – because it has to under stock exchange continuous disclosure rules.

Last April, Millennium & Copthorne Hotels New Zealand entered a conditional agreement with Whangārei District Council to buy the land on 8-10 Dent St for hotel development.

The $2.24 million sale – on what is colloquially known as Fire Brigade Hill – was conditional on due diligence.

The same company entered into a conditional deal to buy the same site off the council in 2019 but pulled out in 2021, citing the change in the tourism and accommodation sectors after the Covid-19 pandemic.

Then last August, the company announced that it had proceeded with the purchase of the land and a hotel development believed to be four-to-four-and-a-half-star standard would go ahead on the site.

The land, which previously contained the Almond Court Flats and a childcare centre, has remained vacant with little done since then.

The Northern Advocate approached the company for an update on its plans for the site and when a hotel would start being built there.

However, Millennium & Copthorne Hotels New Zealand Managing Director Stuart Harrison said as the company is listed on the New Zealand Stock Exchange (NZX), when it is able to address the matters it will need to make an announcement to the market to comply with its continuous disclosure requirements.

“We are happy to send you through a copy of any such announcement if one is made in the future. Until then, we are not in a position to provide any answers to your queries at the moment.”

The NZX’s Continuous Disclosures Policy sets out how the NZX ensures material information is identified, reported, assessed and, where required, disclosed to the market in a timely manner.

The iconic Almond Court flats were demolished in October 2023 after council investigations found the costs to renovate them would be far greater than any likely return on investment.

Key architectural features of the Almond Court Flats – including windows, trims, doors, ceiling roses and bricks – were removed for reuse before the site was cleared. An early childhood centre on the site was also removed in 2019.

At the time of the sale, Whangārei Mayor Vince Cocurullo said the company’s plans were for a four- or four-and-a-half-star hotel with about 100 beds.

“The big thing for us is the four- to four-and-a-half-star rating, so this allows for a lot of those tourists wanting that sort of accommodation to be based here in Whangārei; it’s something that we don’t have at present,” Cocurullo said.

The site has been earmarked for a hotel since 2012 and the proposed development is unlikely to need resource consent, just a straightforward building consent, the mayor said.

The price was market value for the prime CBD site, he said.