The Hyde Lane apartment building in Wellington has a pool, gym, sauna and ice bath. Photo / Mark Mitchell
The Hyde Lane apartment building in Wellington has a pool, gym, sauna and ice bath. Photo / Mark Mitchell
A new $110 million residential development has been completed with access from Wellington’s Courtenay Place.
Developer Stephen Sutorius says the 13-storey, 150-unit Hyde Lane apartments sold quickly and were finished on time and on budget.
The development features 12 high-end penthouses with an individual price-tag of $2m, a wellness retreat with a gym, pool, sauna and ice bath, plus public commercial spaces on the ground floor.
The developer behind a new $110 million apartment complex off Wellington’s Courtenay Place is confident the arrival of tenants in the coming weeks will help drive a revitalisation of the once-bustling area.
The 13-storey, 150-unit Hyde Lane apartments sit back from the capital’s entertainment strip, but are connected by anewly created laneway.
They were completed on time and on budget in less than two years, something developer Stephen Sutorius says is “kind of unheard of in the apartment world”, crediting the “amazing job” of builders CMP Construction.
Pre-settlement inspections took place this week, with residents now preparing to move into their new homes.
Thames Pacific purchased the land in Alpha St, set back from Courtenay Place, four years ago. It went to the market with plans for the apartment tower in 2021, with Sutorius saying interest was high.
“It sold incredibly fast off the plans, we sold the majority of the building in about eight weeks,” he said.
The building comprises 150 one and two-bedroom apartments, a “wellness retreat” with pool, gym, sauna and ice bath, and 12 “high-end” penthouses on the 11th and 12th floors that offer sweeping views over Wellington Harbour, Mt Victoria and the inner city.
“It was designed to cater for a wider market; there are expensive penthouses that cost you close to $2m, but there are smaller, more affordable options that cost you around $500,000,″ Sutorius said.
So far, the buyers are made up of “downsizers transitioning from Mt Vic family homes to apartments, a number of first-home buyers, as well as investors who will get a very good return on their investment”.
The views over Wellington Harbour from one of the penthouse apartments. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Photo / Mark Mitchell
Though most of the cheaper units sold quickly, Sutorius said a few of the more luxurious penthouse apartments were still on offer.
He describes the views as “pretty amazing”, with floor-to-ceiling windows showcasing 360-degree views of Wellington.
The annual body corporate fees are “circa $10,000″ for the penthouses, including insurance, which Sutorius said was a lot lower than the capital’s other comparable apartments, where it can be as high as $35,000 annually.
There’s ample bike parking with a two-tier bike rack, but Sutorius said they made the decision early on not to include a car park.
“We did consider it, but obviously being in the middle of town, there’s a lot of car parking options just nearby.”
The indoor pool in the Hyde Lane apartments building. Photo / by Mark Mitchell
The gym for residents. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Thames Pacific has also purchased the heritage brick building in front of Hyde Lane in Courtenay Place, to protect the views of the apartment’s residents from being obstructed by new development.
The penthouses, which are almost 110sq m, are housed on levels 11 and 12, with a contrasting white cladding on the premium upper levels to represent an “upper-level cloud effect”.
A new public laneway has also been created, giving residents direct access to Courtenay Place.
The building’s ground floor includes space for three commercial offerings and Sutorius said they were looking for a cafe to fill one of the spots.
The new laneway connecting the apartments with Courtenay Place. Photo / Mark Mitchell
The "cloud effect" of the apartment building behind the heritage brick building, which Thames Pacific has purchased to protect residents' views. Photo / Mark Mitchell.
With the new public laneway, Sutorius believes the development will be a positive step forward for the area.
Courtenay Place has become somewhat emblematic of the capital’s struggles with boarded-up shopfronts and an increased homeless population on the once-bustling party strip.
“What the city needs is more people on Courtenay Place during the day,” he said.
“There’s some big work planned for Courtenay Place once Reading gets sorted out and, obviously, the [Golden Mile] upgrade works the council are doing to Courtenay place shortly – the whole place is going to revitalise and putting people there is a key part of that.”
Ethan Manera is a multimedia journalist based in Wellington. He joined NZME in 2023 and is interested in local issues, politics and property development in the capital. Ethan is always on the lookout for a story and can be emailed at ethan.manera@nzme.co.nz.
