NEWS RELEASE
20 June 2007

The Overseas Passenger Terminal – an under-used landmark on the waterfront – will be given a new lease of life if a proposal by local developer Willis Bond & Company is given the go-ahead by City Councillors later this month.

Wellington Waterfront Ltd, a Council-controlled organisation, has negotiated a $32 million deal in which Willis Bond & Co would pay for a 125-year lease on the wharf and terminal building. Under the company’s proposal the building would accommodate apartments on the upper levels and a range of other uses at wharf-level.

The wharf would remain a public space with access to everyone.

The main points of the proposal:

• Willis Bond & Co would spend some $16 million on repiling and strengthening the 101-year-old wharf on which the Terminal sits.
• Wellington Waterfront Limited would receive some $16 million in cash and development benefits and improvements.
• The improvements would include a water-level fishing wharf extension at the seaward end of the terminal, accommodation within the terminal of space for an artist-in-residence, and an upgrade public viewing platform at mezzanine level.

Mayor Kerry Prendergast and Wellington Waterfront Chair Fran Wilde both describe the proposal as a fantastic deal for Wellington. It will be discussed by Councillors at a meeting on 27 June.

Mayor Prendergast says the upgrade would turn the Terminal into “what it was originally meant to be – a destination”.

“The Terminal’s story has, up to now, been depressing. It was completed in 1964 as a state-of-the-art facility for people travelling by sea – but its days were numbered even as the builders finished work.

“By the end of the ‘60s people had stopped travelling en masse by sea and instead taken to the air. It’s been in a state of limbo for the best part of 40 years. This proposal will rejuvenate that area and bring what should have been quite a magical building back to life.”

Mayor Prendergast says Willis Bond, which is developing the Chews Lane site between Willis and Victoria streets, has a “proven performance history”.

Ms Wilde says the proposed development would bring new life to the high-profile waterfront site. “It would make it an essential part of the waterfront promenade – people would want to take a stroll around the wharf because it’d not be the somewhat bleak experience it can be now.”

Willis Bond & Co Director Mark McGuinness says a mix of high-quality apartments and ground-floor uses “that would attract the public to the wharf” are proposed.

He says the redevelopment would be a significant challenge because of the need to repile and strengthen the 1906-vintage wharf. The distinctive proportions and maritime imagery of the building itself – including the tall ‘spire’ - would be retained while the exterior skin and cavernous interior would be completely rebuilt.

Athfield Architects have drawn up designs that retain the strong nautical lines of the building which was designed in the early 1960s by local firm Morton Calder Fowler and Styles. Michael Fowler – who went on to be Wellington Mayor – played a large role in the project.

Wellington Waterfront Chief Executive Ian Pike says the Waterfront Framework calls for the Overseas Terminal to be retained and developed as part of the Waitangi Park Precinct.

He says Wellington Waterfront has been negotiating with Willis Bond and conducting a due diligence process for more than a year since the company was selected as the preferred developer and invited to exclusively take part in the final stage of this process.

The selection of a proposed developer of the Overseas Terminal was carried out in three stages starting in April 2004. Nine proposals were selected from six development teams. These were short-listed to three, from which Willis Bond was selected as the preferred developer in April 2005.

Public feedback on the Willis Bond proposal was sought in May and June 2006 as part of the Waterfront Development Subcommittee approval process. Seventy-four submissions were received. There was general support for the design concept.

Mr Pike says a 125-year lease would be a commercially-sustainable term for both Wellington Waterfront and the developer.

He adds that an independent assessment of the wharf has confirmed that it is in poor condition and in need of seismic strengthening and that if this is not addressed in the next 20 years, further deterioration will render the wharf unsafe. “The Willis Bond proposal accepts full responsibility for the necessary repair of the wharf and in so doing relieves Council of the cost.”

The proposed ground lease would be a strata title that ‘shrink-wraps’ the proposed building, wharf structure and piles directly under the building footprint including the underlying seabed.

Wellington Waterfront would retain control of the remaining perimeter of the wharf to ensure ongoing obligations to the Chaffers Marina and CentrePort (berthing of vessels) can be achieved.

Mr Pike says control of the outer wharf would also ensure that the public continues to enjoy unencumbered access around the wharf for activities such as walking and fishing.