The Northcote development was the subject of a long-running legal battle. Photo / Herald On Sunday
Dominion Funds has sold the Fox shopping centre in Auckland to a private investor for about $15 million.
Paul Duffy, Dominion's chief executive, said he was happy with the deal to a local investor.
"It was above our costs," he said, although he refused to confirm the price,
saying the terms were confidential.
Fox, with more than 50 discount outlet shops on Akoranga Drive at Northcote, fought a long-running battle to stay open after Westfield and a community group tried to close it down.
Josephine Grierson transformed the centre from a derelict former garden outlet into a small mall. The former Palmers Garden Centre was gutted and shops built inside.
In 2004, Dominion bought a half share then bought the entire centre last year.
At the time Duffy said Grierson had other projects. "Josephine just wanted to move on."
The world's largest mall owner, Westfield, claimed Fox's planning approval was illegal.
Grierson emerged the victor last year after a series of court cases.
Duffy said the mall was held in a separate entity, rather than in one of Dominion's retail property funds: "We wanted it that way from day one, given the risk and profile of the centre," he said last year.
Dominion owns commercial, retail and industrial property worth $617 million.
For the past two years, the centre has been reported in numerous media reports as being worth about $15 million, although no independent valuation figures have been made available.
Dominion said in last year's annual report that it had spent $88.3 million on new property acquisitions.
