Valentine's building owners see international food court opening

Peter and Tina Pornsirichaivatana are the new owners of the old Valentine's restaurant building. PHOTO/ANDREW WARNER

They had watched the building slowly fall into disrepair during their daily drive into the city, saying it was not a good look for Rotorua, so they bought it.

Peter and Tina Pornsirichaivatana, who own PTK Holdings and have lived and worked in Rotorua for the past 10 years, are the proud new owners of one of Rotorua's most high profile locations - the old Valentine's Restaurant building on the corner of Fenton and Amohau sts.

Valentine's Restaurant went into liquidation and was closed, with the loss of 22 jobs, in February.

The building's then owner, Rotorua lawyer Richard Charter, said at the time he wanted to make the building more up to date and modern but he since decided to sell the building and adjoining land.

Mr and Mrs Pornsirichaivatana, originally from Bangkok, said in the short term they wanted to renovate the building and start up an "international" style restaurant, but also wanted to offer up parts of the site to new business opportunities with the long-term goal of making it an international food court and bar.

"The kitchen is very large and could easily be shared with other businesses, so we are open to ideas and are prepared to help people into business.

"Someone could even take over the entire site," Mr Pornsirichaivatana said.

"We can see it as a fun place with a bar, entertainment and a range of food offerings."

The couple said they would also be open to mentoring people into a new business.

"We love Rotorua and want the city to look nice too," Mrs Pornsirichaivatana said.

"We would come into town every day and loved the location too, but it was looking old and needed a lot of work - we are trying to make things better," she said.

The couple own more than a dozen buildings in Rotorua and take pride in the city's appearance.

"It's such a beautiful place, lots of tourists come here too and we want everything to look good," she said.

Colliers International commercial sales and leasing agent Mark Rendell said the ex-Valentine's site was on leasehold land owned by the Ngati Whakaue Education Endowment Trust. It is leased in perpetuity.

Mr Rendell said the location was a big factor in the sale that took less than a month to complete.

The site is made up of the building itself, 770m2, as well as a sealed car park area adjoining it, with a combined total land area of 1422m2.

Mr Rendell said it was within walking distance of many motels and hotels and would be a great place to start up a new restaurant and bar.

"It was not a hard sell, due to the location, I know they will do a great job."