University House, on the corner of Princes St and Bowen Ave, Auckland was built as a Jewish synagogue. Photo / Supplied
University House, on the corner of Princes St and Bowen Ave, Auckland was built as a Jewish synagogue. Photo / Supplied
Commercial property developers are discovering more than history in neglected older or heritage properties, with some conversions to new commercial uses often stacking up as better long-term investments than new buildings, says Ryan Johnson, Bayleys' national director commercial and industrial.
Johnson says multiple restored heritage and character buildings throughout New Zealand were analysed by Bayleys Research.
According to the analysis, restoration specialists are repurposing historic stock for the needs of 21st century owners and commercial tenants, despite significant challenges including funding, planning restrictions and earthquake strengthening requirements.
Johnson says a variety of historic and character buildings across New Zealand have been saved from demolition and converted to new uses as commercial property – including office, hotel and retail space.
He says character buildings embody not just history but often exceptional commercial potential.
"Ambitious owners and developers in locations across New Zealand have shown that, if they can overcome financial, design and planning challenges, a lovingly restored and converted historic building can be a source of excitingopportunities as commercial property," he said.
"There are often significant limits to the alterations that can be made – and the costs of sympathetic and compatible reuse, often combined with seismic strengthening, can be challenging – but developers have demonstrated that it can be done, and done well," says Johnson.
In Buckle St, Wellington, the nation's oldest purpose-built police station has been restored as offices. Photo / Supplied
"If they can stack up the investment, a successfully repurposed character building with facilities and workspaces fit for the 21st century often carries adistinctive visual appeal and an air of prestige that helps owners attract and keep high-quality tenants, with resulting rewards in terms of per square metre rates.
"In some cases, a century-old building might prove a better long-term bet than its new counterparts; and the benefits can flow beyond developers and owners to communities who may otherwise have lost these buildings along with their history."
In Auckland, the reuse of University House, on the corner of Princes Street and Bowen Avenue drew attention. Dating from the mid-1880s, the building was a Jewish synagogue until 1969 before it was converted to offices with an award-winning restoration.
The interior, meticulously restored in the late 1980s, is a blend of Moorish and classical style with ornate stained-glass windows, an elliptical staircase and decorated barrel-vaulted ceiling supported by graceful arches and columns.
The project involved extensive structural and strengthening work and redevelopment of the interior.
The University of Auckland took over the lease in 2003 and it now houses the alumni relations and development office.
The project won a New Zealand Institute of Architects national award citation in 1990 for successfully reconciling commercial requirements with the need to conserve a landmark building.
In Wellington, when the country's oldest purpose-built police station in Buckle St was put on the market in 2016, a Wellington couple became proud owners of the heritage property.
The Category A heritage-listed property was built in 1894 by prisoners from the nearby Mount Cook and Terrace jails.
Thousands of red bricks for the 550sq m police barracks were handmade by inmates.
Finishing its life as barracks in 1956, it was a police clothing store until 1967 then handed over to what would later be known as the National Museum and Art Gallery. The Historic Places Trust restored the building in 1978, and it was strengthened in the 1980s by the Ministry of Works.
After that, it was home to The Dominion Museum and National Art Gallery until the completion of Te Papa in the late 1990s. The wider site was transferred to the Wellington Tenths Trust.
The area containing the police station was subdivided and it was sold in the 1990s and converted to offices - now tenanted by several small firms.
In Christchurch, one prominent commercial building saved from demolition is the former Government Buildings. This Italian Renaissance-style building was designed to centralise various Government departments. It opened in 1913 and housed various departments until the 1980s.
It was slated for demolition in 1991. However, Christchurch City Council stepped in and bought it from the Government for $735,000 then on-sold it to the former Symphony Group in 1995, when it was strengthened and converted to a hotel.
It survived the 2010-2011 earthquakes, was refurbished and reopened as the Heritage Hotel Christchurch. In 2017, it was a winner in the World Luxury Hotel Awards.
In the heart of Otago, the multimillion-dollar conversion of Dunedin's heritage post office building into a Distinction Hotel was welcomed by the city council. Erected in 1937, the 10-storey building sat empty from the 1990s before being converted to a 4.5-star, 120-apartment hotel and office space.
