"I could have gone for a cheaper unit... in a 15-storey block but I don't think that would have been suitable for us. We can walk outside and walk to the park and it is a really safe part of town. That was my motivation.
"I love the location. Just the convenience, having a young son and being dad, sometimes you struggle to think of things to do. But being in the city you just have to walk out the door and there is always something going on.
"The Britomart quarter is only five minutes' walk away, you have the waterfront if you are into biking. It is only a minute to walk to Quay St.
"And this part of the city is quite low rise, low density.
"There is a lovely park next door, and it fronts on to Vector Arena."
Gary says the complex is only about 10 or 11 years old. Construction includes steel framing, concrete walls and floors, and metal cladding to upper-level walls.
"Everything is quite new, it is really well built by a construction company so they have good building practices."
Downstairs, his apartment is dedicated to the living area, including kitchen. One corner of the lounge has a double-height void to the ceiling. All the apartments have balconies and, because Gary's is on the ground floor, he has a courtyard from the living area.
Upstairs are the two bedrooms, the master with en suite and also the second bathroom.
"The downstairs living area is spacious and airy for a city apartment," says Gary.
"And a real selling point is I don't have to use any heating through winter; the apartment's warm by nature. It is north facing and it has been constructed so any sun comes through the windows and warms the apartment up. It retains the warmth."
He says the apartments also have a great body corp and managers on site every day.
Residents tend to be mainly younger or middle-aged couples, "a few have children, but not many, and there are some retired people".
Gary is selling because his son goes to school at Whangaparaoa, and he wants to have a base near there.
"He is at an age where I think he wants to spend a bit more time with his friends. It will be easier if we live up there rather than live in the city. I don't really want to sell the apartment but I want to give Jack a good start in life.
"This is a lovely apartment and quite large; 105 sq m which, for Auckland city, is generous."
