New high-end Whanganui apartments a labour of love

The kitchen and dining area of the top floor four-bedroom apartment. Photo / Bevan Conley

The final piece of the puzzle has fallen into place for the award-winning Johnston & Co building on Taupō Quay.

Three luxury loft apartments - two, three and four bedrooms - are now available to rent short-term through Airbnb.

Property manager Tess Dwyer, of Upstaged Home Staging and Airbnb Whanganui, said bookings were already coming in.

“We are aiming for that corporate and visitor market,” she said.

“I think this puts us up in the same league as the Taurangas, Taupōs and New Plymouths.

“Most people have seen this building from the outside and how it’s been beautifully painted but it’s not until you walk around the inside that you see what [owners] Dmytro [Dizhur] and Martha [Giaretton] have done.”

The Johnston & Co building was constructed in 1914.

Structural engineer Dr Dmytro Dizhur, who has owned it since 2018, has put “blood, sweat and tears” into earthquake-strengthening and renovation.

“Instead of hiding some of the old features - like the beautiful, original trusses - we just embraced them,” he said.

“You can also see white columns which are part of the seismic-strengthening work. Again, instead of hiding them, we tidied them up so they looked cosmetically presentable.

“We made features out of them.”

Photo Gallery

Image 1 of 10: Two bedroom apartment. Inside the Johnstone and Co building on the corner of Taupo Quay and Victoria Ave or City Bridge. Photo / Bevan Conley

Dizhur said strengthening the building was the easy part of the project.

When he bought the building, it was deemed earthquake-prone - below the minimum NBS (New Building Standard) rating of 33 per cent.

It is now at 70 per cent.

“When we got to the fit-out stage, the puzzle became a lot more complicated,” he said.

“You have to juggle fire rating, acoustics, ventilation, plumbing, you name it. A lot of local people were involved. I got on the tools myself if we had a shortage and a deadline to meet.”

While he was satisfied with how everything turned out, thoughts of giving up crossed his mind along the way.

Covid-19 caused a lot of disruption, with Gib taking eight months to arrive.

That caused the project to take far longer than expected - and at a higher cost.

“Locals I established good relationships with acted as great echoing boards every time I thought ‘I’ve had enough’,” Dizhur said.

“Talking to them got me reinspired.”

All up, he spent more than $1 million on the building.

It won the supreme award at this year’s Whanganui Regional Heritage Awards.

Dwyer said she jumped at the chance to manage the apartments.

Upstaged, which specialises in dressing (staging) homes before they go on the market, had “chosen every cushion and every cup”.

Each apartment is fully furnished.

“I love how many of the original features Dmytro has managed to keep in. He has put in so much work,” she said.

“I would have been really jealous if someone else got to do it.”

Dmytro Dizhur outside the building in 2021. Photo / NZME

The apartments are going for $330 a night (two-bedroom), $440 (three-bedroom) and $550 (four-bedroom).

There is also a 280sqm commercial space for rent.

Her book club was going to have a “staycation” in the four-bedroom apartment soon, Dwyer said.

“You go out, have a few drinks, then you come back and you’re on the deck. It’s beautiful.

“If you divide $550 between a few people, it’s not that expensive.”

Now the building was finished, Dizhur said he needed “some time to breathe” before getting stuck into his next project.

“I don’t have one in the pipeline just yet but, knowing myself, I’ll probably get myself into something similar in the near future.

“I can’t live without a challenge.”

A wine bar - the Burrow Cellars - will soon open on the river-facing side of the building and the Burrow Select takes up the front.

Dizhur said the Whanganui District Council had “come to the party” throughout the process and was on the journey with him.

He would not have got the same treatment in bigger centres.

“Here, it felt like everybody was on the same page. That was refreshing.”

Mike Tweed is an assistant news director and multimedia journalist at the Whanganui Chronicle. Since starting in March 2020, he has dabbled in everything from sport to music. At present his focus is local government, primarily the Whanganui District Council.