Soho Square site back on market

An artist's impression of what the consented area of Soho Square could look like. Photo / Supplied

Ponsonby's controversial 1.3ha Soho Square urban development project is being sold by CB Richard Ellis' national director Bruce Whillans and senior managing director Richard Horne who are jointly marketing the property for sale by tender closing on April 8.

Soho Square developer Layne Kells' company Ponsonby Mall Trust went into receivership at the end of last year, owing the funders Fortress $24 million and Strategic $50 million.

Kells bought the former DYC vinegar factory site in 2004 and his company spent five years developing a masterplan for the property and working through the planning process to obtain resource consents to develop 32,300sq m over five buildings in a mixed-use development that includes substantial commercial office space. An appeal is before the Environment Court on additional resource consents to increase the permitted bulk and height of some of the buildings on the site to take the development to 47,700sq m.

Whillans says the property's sale represents a good opportunity to undertake a sophisticated mixed urban development in one of Auckland's most desirable areas. "It is one of Auckland's most significant central urban development opportunities for many years," Whillans says. "And it is rare for a developer to get the chance to immediately start work on building a project of scale and significance that will change the face of a large part of an affluent and cosmopolitan Auckland city fringe suburb."

If a new buyer sticks with Ponsonby Mall Trust's plans for the $250 million project, Soho Square will be an integrated mixed-use project bounded by Crummer Rd, Pollen St and Williamson Ave.

Auckland City Council consented plans include about 18,600sq m of commercial office space, 4300sq m of retail, 3000sq m of cafes and restaurants and an entertainment area of 2000sq m, which has been earmarked for cinemas and a 1250-bay, five-level basement car park. Consent for a further 15,000sq m of space, mainly for apartments, was turned down in 2008 by an independent panel of Auckland City Council commissioners, mainly on the grounds of shading, but the decision was appealed and the receivers, Grant Thornton, are continuing with the Environment Court hearing.

Ignite Architects director Jeremy Whelan has been involved with the project since 2004 and his practice is working for the receiver on providing evidence on those shading issues as the primary reason for declining the consent for additional bulk.

"The apartments are layered and set back to minimise shading."

Whelan says Ignite designed Soho Square as an urban village, with a collection of individual buildings that could be developed over time to create an urban streetscape centred on a series of streets, squares and plazas. "The buildings are layered away from the street edges to mass toward the middle of the development.

"The planned development fits in with the scale of Ponsonby and the edges have been kept low so the buildings in the middle have minimal impact on Ponsonby's streetscape."

He says the buildings are a blend of traditional and new. "A couple of them are reminiscent of the Ponsonby streetscape - one is a corner building with traditional architectural references and a dome, another is arranged around a courtyard and a modern building is also in the mix.

"At street level there is a feel the buildings might have been built in different styles at different times, similar to the growth of an urban village."

Whelan said Soho was not initially designed as a residentially focused development. "In light of the poor market for office space a new owner might want to review and alter the amount of commercial space. Given the mixed-use zoning for the site, additional housing should pose no problem."

Grant Thornton receiver Tim Downes says that although Soho Square might look like a large hole blotting Ponsonby's landscape, this belies the huge amount of sophisticated intellectual work that has gone into it to date. Our job is to sell the property while maintaining key project initiatives. As part of the process, we are carrying on with the Environment Court appeal, which will add significant value for any future owner."

Downes says although plans for the site have been contentious at times there appeared to be willingness from the planning authorities and local residents, some of whom have scathingly dubbed the project "Sohole", to see the site developed. "Locals are sick of looking at a hole and there is real interest in seeing something happen."

The hard work in obtaining the majority of the site's consents has already been done. This provides a great platform for a new owner to pick up the plans, modify them if necessary and get on with the development."

Soho Square sits within one of Auckland's wealthiest suburbs with an annual household income of more than $87,000 - more than 41 per cent higher than the national average.

A spend analysis shows $2.8 billion is expected to be spent in Ponsonby's main trading area this year, increasing by an average of 5.7 per cent annually to reach $3.33 billion in 2016.

Horne says it shows people living in the main trading area spend about 20 per cent above the national average and in the primary catchment 37 per cent higher than the national average. "Soho is a prime piece of land and a non-renewable resource in one of Auckland's best suburbs. It is unlikely a site of this scale will be available again," Horne says.