Fences have gone up around the Almond Court flats on Dent St, Whangārei, with the ‘unique’ flats to be demolished to make way for a yet-to-be confirmed hotel development.
Fences have gone up around the Almond Court flats on Dent St, Whangārei, with the ‘unique’ flats to be demolished to make way for a yet-to-be confirmed hotel development.
A unique block of Whangārei flats are being demolished to make way for a hotel development on the site that has yet to be confirmed.
Fences have gone up and contractors have begun clearing the Almond Court flats on Dent St after a Whangārei District Council decision to prepare the site for any future development.
A group of Whangārei architects tried to save the red brick block of six flats overlooking Laurie Hall Park from demolition in 2021 due to their ‘unique’ architecture and social status. They wanted the flats to remain, at least until a hotel development was confirmed for the site.
In 2019, council signed a $2.5 million deal to sell the land to Millennium & Copthorne Hotels NZ (MCK) for a hotel development. But the proposed deal meant Almond Court would have to be demolished, as the company wanted a clean site before any hotel went ahead. However, the company later pulled out of the deal.
The council has now voted to go ahead with the demolition despite no hotel deal being in place.
Architect Felicity Christian, who led the fight to save the flats, was “very disappointed” in the decision. She said the flats were built post-war as a way to get more people living in the central city.
They were originally owned by the Brown family, but in 1955 were bought by the council for a “proposed municipal reserve”, although they ultimately became part of council’s housing stock.
“It’s just such a shame that another piece of historical and unique architecture will be lost to our city. I thought there would be a development in place before they did this, and we don’t know how much longer that site will now stand empty before being developed.”
Christian wanted to know what happened to the expressions of interests sought by the council regarding development of the site after the deal fell through, and why they may not have been considered appropriate.
Whangārei Mayor Vince Cocurullo said the “prime site” has been earmarked for hotel development since 2012.
He said back then, the council had been working for several years to identify a suitable location to offer for development of the district’s first four-star hotel. Their efforts included public consultation.
“Both sets of buildings were coming to the ends of their usable lives without major renovations. Investigations revealed that the cost to renovate the flats was far greater than any likely return on the investment, so the decision was made to relocate tenants to other suitable housing.”
In 2021, the council said bringing Almond Court up to standard would cost up to $890,000. Since then, the buildings have remained standing and boarded up.
Contractors will be stripping any salvageable materials from Dent St’s Almond Court flats ahead of their demolition this week.
Cocurullo said before any final decisions were made, discussions were held with the Historic Places Trust.
“They revealed that while these flats are warmly regarded, they are not of historical, social or architectural significance. It was important to do this research because we do respect buildings of historical significance – for example, recently we have invested $7.4m in the restoration of the Old Municipal Building.”
He, too, would be sad to the see the iconic buildings go, but was excited for the benefits development of the site may bring.
