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Housing New Zealand is determined to remove a grand villa in Grafton despite a belated attempt by the Auckland City Council to give it heritage status.
The council yesterday announced moves to give the two-storey villa near Grafton Bridge category B status after it earlier missed qualifying by the narrowest of margins.
The distinctive house is one of eight mostly commercial properties earmarked for scheduling in the district plan.
The pro-heritage council under Mayor Dick Hubbard has sought to protect 33 historic buildings in the central city and suburbs on the isthmus but has come under fire for not saving buildings under direct threat of demolition.
In a statement, the Housing New Zealand said that when it bought the property at 123 Grafton Rd from the council in 2003 the site was not considered to have any heritage value. The property had significant development potential and this was reflected in its market value. The price paid was $1.72 million.
The city's planning and regulatory committee chairwoman, Glenda Fryer, last night said the council saw merit in scheduling the house and was going down that path. People have until March 26 to make submissions on the proposals to schedule the eight properties.
The other seven properties include the old Ambassador Theatre in Pt Chevalier; the former male infirmary ward at Green Lane Hospital; the Excelsior Building in Khyber Pass Rd; the Nurses' Residential Club in Mountain Rd, Epsom; the Crystal Palace Theatre in Mt Eden Rd; the Orange Ballroom in Newton Rd, and a commercial building in Ponsonby Rd where Dutch immigrant Johan Klisser introduced Vogel's bread to New Zealand.
