$9.2m for city penthouse

A new luxury penthouse apartment on top of one of Auckland's most prestigious hotels comes with a record price tag - likely to be around $9.2 million.

And as many as 26 of the 143 freehold apartments to be added to the five-star Stamford Plaza hotel on Albert St will set vendors back well in excess of $1 million a piece.

The Stamford On Albert residences include 10 over-sized penthouse apartments, which will enjoy city and harbour views from the yet to materialise Level 22 and will range in price from a provisional $2.8 million to a possible record-breaking $9.2 million - the most expensive NZ apartment yet. Parking will cost extra: $65,000 for a single car park or $95,000 for a tandem. Even Auckland's top real estate agents are stunned at the $9 million-plus price currently tagged for the 724sq m penthouse.

Graham Wall, of Coles Real Estate, who handled the sales of the Sultan of Brunei's multi-million dollar homes, was momentarily speechless at the news. "Good Lord," he said. "That's the most anyone's ever asked for a penthouse in Auckland, I would think! Even the eight big apartments in Metropolis - which offer extraordinarily good value and boast great views - sell for less than $2 million."

Bayleys spokesman Neil Prentice, whose company is marketing the property, said the prices were provisional and subject to change. The Stamford On Albert was a top quality development in an outstanding location, he said, near the waterfront and the city's business and shopping heart. "The other big attraction is that it's freehold. A lot of apartments on the Viaduct are leasehold. We think there's a very strong market [for this]," he said, adding that his company had sold almost $20 million worth of apartments this year in the Viaduct alone. The cheapest price banding at the Stamford On Albert will be on one-bedroom lofts or one-room residences, ranging in size from 58sq m to 87sq m, and priced from $420,000 to $800,000. Prentice said that although some interest in the Stamford would probably come from investors in southeast Asia, he expected the larger apartments would sell to owner-occupiers in Auckland. "A lot of people are moving out of big houses, but they don't want to compromise on the space they're occupying," he said.

Each apartment will have floor to ceiling windows to showcase the ever-changing harbour and city views. There will be a concierge service and use of the newly refurbished hotel's five-star health club and spa facilities.

The hotel's Singapore-based owners, Stamford Land Corporation, closed the hotel at the end of May for a complete overhaul. It is due to reopen for business on October 1. Strengthening of the building's foundations was now proceeding to enable work to begin later this year on the 10 storeys of apartments that will be added on top of the existing 11 floors. The building is due for completion in October 2008.

Although the market for cheap apartments in Auckland had crashed, agent Graham Wall said, it was a different matter at the other end of the scale: "There's a shortage of high-quality properties. If something is good enough, it will sell."