New endeavour for Masterton developer

CHANGES: A new lease on life is in the pipeline for this Masterton building. PHOTO/ANDREW BONALLACK

THE sound of music may have faded for King Street Live but the building it was housed in is to have a new owner, and a new lease on life.

Masterton property developer David Borman is to take possession of the Chilton building at the end of the month with his company Endeavour Concepts having clinched a deal to buy it.

Mr Borman plans to gut the upper storey of the building, taking care not to destroy its original character, and to replace the five flats with three top-of-the-range apartments.

Restoration of the downstairs portion of the building will include bringing "beautiful, timber parquet flooring" back to its best, he said.

A shop that extends along part of the King St frontage and round the corner into Chapel St will remain, leaving an area of about 700 sqm remaining downstairs for development.

Mr Borman said this area could be tenanted to one "or perhaps two" businesses.

"I am working with prospective tenants now, but nothing has yet been signed."

Work on restoring the old building, thought to date back to the mid-1930s, will begin as soon as the development company has obtained the necessary building consents from Masterton District Council.

Included in the work will be quite extensive earthquake strengthening identified when Mr Borman commissioned an engineer to assess the building.

"He determined the building could be saved," Mr Borman said. "There is not a lot of brick in it, it's mostly concrete and steel."

The exterior of the building will be saved in its entirety.

King Street Live, an entertainment venue, closed at the end of February after three years.

Managing director Carl Schdroski said shareholders decided to close citing waning community support for the lesser-known acts, along with a low population and income range in Masterton and changes to alcohol laws.