Deal Confirmed For Odlins Building

10 April 2002

Lambton Harbour Management Limited has announced the completion of a detailed agreement with Willis Bond & Co Limited which will allow the long vacant Odlins Building to be restored. The agreement is subject to Willis Bond & Co Limited being able to obtain resource consent for the redevelopment.

'We are pleased to have arrived at a successful conclusion to what has been a very lengthy process of consultation and negotiation,' says David Gascoigne, Chairman of Lambton Harbour Management Limited. 'When we announced the selection of Willis Bond & Co. Limited as the successful proposer for the restoration of the Odlins building back in August last year, we said that the contract then entered into was subject to a number of conditions. We had hoped to work through these and achieve a speedy resolution.

However, that was not possible and in October 2001 we acknowledged publicly that the level of difficulty (involving broader issues than just the property alone) was such that the redevelopment was in doubt. Combined with global events at that time, these issues were adding to the uncertainty of what was already a very difficult project. However, as I said at the time, both parties were continuing to work together in an effort to achieve a satisfactory outcome.'

'I am happy to announce that those difficulties have now been overcome', says David Gascoigne. 'Of course, Willis Bond & Co. Limited has much work to do to before the redevelopment and restoration can commence. Resource consent must be obtained and minimum leasing commitments need to be secured, so some time may pass before work begins on site. However, the very real prospect of seeing another of the waterfront's fine old buildings restored gives my colleagues and me great satisfaction'.

The Odlins Building, which has its frontage on Cable Street and backs on to the Taranaki Street Wharf open space area, was constructed in 1907 and was occupied by the well known timber and hardware company, C & A Odlin Limited, until it vacated the building in the early 1970's. Apart from the later temporary use of the ground floor and mezzanine as a discotheque, the building has been empty since, and has gradually fallen into a state of disrepair. It is a fine example of Edwardian industrial building design - now becoming increasingly rare.

The redevelopment scheme, designed for Willis Bond & Co. Limited by Wellington architectural firm Athfield Architects Limited, incorporates offices on the upper levels and a café, gallery or other retail focussed outlets on the ground floor. Some basement parking will be provided for building tenants.

Restoration of the building will be a major construction project in its own right. It will involve full earthquake strengthening, and rebuilding to the extent that there will effectively be a new building constructed inside the outer shell of the existing building.

'We were attracted to the site because of its location right on the harbour edge. This along with the building's large efficient floor plates deliver a unique product within Wellington's office landscape. In style and quality the redevelopment will be similar to the new office buildings recently developed at the Viaduct Basin on the Auckland waterfront. The worldwide trend is for office and residential users to gravitate to waterfront locations. This is an example of this trend and has the effect of making the waterfront a much more vibrant location.'. says Mark McGuinness, Executive Director of Willis Bond & Co.

Lambton Harbour Management Limited acknowledges that the price being gained for the building has been detrimentally affected by its having been unable to obtain planning permission to relocate the former Wellington Free Ambulance Building. As a result, a basement car-parking scheme has had to be devised and the restored building will not open to the west, as would have been possible.

Despite this, the completion of this agreement is a very big step forward in the redevelopment of this part of the Waterfront, states Lambton Harbour Management Limited. Not only does it provide for the restoration of an important historic building; it also provides a degree of certainty which should assist in progress towards the completion of the whole of the Taranaki Street Wharf redevelopment area - an area that has already won urban design awards and that is becoming an increasingly popular location on Wellington's Waterfront.

Ends..

LAMBTON HARBOUR MANAGEMENT LIMITED