Christchurch Casino buys big adjoining land site

An aerial view of the bare land site purchased adjoining Christchurch Casino. Photo / Supplied

By Colin Taylor

Christchurch Casino has paid $3.7m for a large parcel of bare land, adjacent to its Victoria St site, as a future planning move

The Casino bought the 4047sq m site, which was on the market for the first time in 35 years, at a Colliers International auction. The Casino has been consolidating its land holdings in the catchment to provide for future flexibility and now owns a total of 11,000sq m in the vicinity of the Casino, in addition to the Casino site itself.

The Casino has teamed up with an Australian developer for a 200-room hotel and 400-plus carpark development, which is currently in for council consent.

Casino chief executive Brett Anderson says there are no immediate plans to develop the newly-acquired land and the Casino was considering its options.

"But these sorts of opportunities, to purchase such a large parcel of land on our doorstep, don't come along every day. It gives us some flexibility with our future planning, especially with the challenges facing Victoria St if the Council goes ahead with the proposed streetscape which includes losing a significant number of carparks.

"We want a successful, vibrant Victoria St that will benefit all the businesses in this precinct. Our size means that we are fortunate to have the ability to help provide a safe, busy street with a mix of offerings. Victoria St is a pivotal part of the Christchurch CBD as the northern gateway to the city so it's crucial to make it an attractive place to visit."

Marketing agents Hamish Doig, managing director of Colliers International in Christchurch, and Courtney Doig, said that strategically located bare land continues to attract significant interest from developers wanting to consolidate their holdings or those looking for new opportunities.

"We are thrilled to achieve an outstanding result for our vendors, after the land was held in the same ownership of the late Martin Coffey for circa 35 years. We are excited to see how the buyer ultimately develops such a key central city location," Courtney Doig said.

"Since the earthquakes, there has been a lot of activity in vacant land sales within the four avenues as investors have sought to consolidate their holdings. Our records show that, since the start of 2015, there have been 64 commercial vacant land sales, collectively valued at $120,118,000."

A smaller site covering 523sq m at 54 Salisbury St also sold at the Colliers auction for $775,000 to a private local investor.