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Duke & Cooke Property News |
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Published on: 16th August 2008 MORTGAGEE SALE AT SANDS MORTGAGEE SALE AT SANDSA mortgagee sale has been called on more than a third of the troubled Sands complex in Tahunanui, with agents predicting apartments will sell “well below replacement costs”. Bayleys agent Julie Ambrose told the Nelson Mail that Strategic Finance – which itself hit trouble this month freezing up to $330 million of investors’ funds – had called the mortgagee sale of 17 units in the complex. Of those, 13 apartments that have never sold, three are vacant shops and one is the premises of 623 On The Rocks café, which is being sold subject to the existing lease remaining in place. The $29 million complex with 42 apartments and 13 ground-floor shops was constructed by Auckland-based developer Robert Donald who repeatedly hit hurdles during the planning and consent stages. Duke and Cooke valuer Barry Rowe said apartments in the complex had been on the market for “some considerable time”. “The fact that it’s a mortgagee sale will attract interest on its own because we don’t see that many of them here.” (The Nelson Mail, Monday 11 August 2008) NELSON HOUSE VALUES SLIP 2.7PC OVER YEARNelson house values have declined 2.7 percent during the past year but, anecdotally, there’s positive talk in the market, Quotable Value spokesman Blue Hancock says. July was the second month in a row that Nelson recorded a decline in QVs quarterly property values, after a drop of 0.1 percent in the quarter to June. Tasman continues to buck the trend with 0.5 percent growth, although this too is down on the 2.7 percent growth recorded last month. (The Nelson Mail, Monday 11 August 2008) ECO-BACH VILLAGE PLANNED FOR BEST ISLAND$20m complex has 31 units (The Nelson Mail, Wednesday 13 August 2008) IRD ZEROES IN ON PROPERTY SALE GAINSInland Revenue has started investigating “mum and dad” investors who have bought and sold property in the Nelson region without paying income tax, a Nelson accountancy firm says. Mark Davies, an associate in the taxation advisory services division of WHK West Yates, said several clients had received letters from the department questioning their affairs. Inland Revenue had been “grooming” selected files for some months in preparation for auditing, he said. (The Nelson Mail, Wednesday 13 August 2008) NEW PILES SET STAGE FOR THEATRE REVAMPA dramatic performance is under way at Nelson’s Theatre Royal. Drilling 24 12m screw piles into the ground for the theatre stage and back of house area signals the start of rebuilding the historic theatre. Nelson Historic Theatre Trust chairman Greg Shaw said: “It’s the start of the building process – we’ve gone from demolition to building, so it’s a significant step.” Nelson firm Fitzgerald Construction has been appointed contractor. Mr Ferguson said it would start building work on the stage and back of house area as soon as the piles were in, which would take two days. Construction is expected to take two years. The project is costing more than $4 million, with almost $3 million coming from the Government’s Significant Community Based Projects Fund. Another $1 million comes from the Nelson city and Tasman district councils, with general fundraising covering the rest of the cost. (The Nelson Mail, Wednesday 13 August 2008) PUB DEFIES ORDER TO SNUFF OPEN FIREPopular English-style pub the Honest Lawyer is fighting a Nelson City Council order to stop using its open fire. The council banned the use of open fires in Nelson at the start of the year to improve air quality. The Honest Lawyer Country Pub has continued to use its fireplace this winter and now the council has told it to stop or it will be fined. If the pub fails to comply, it can be ordered to pay a $750 infringement fine, and if it continued to use the fire it could be prosecuted under the Resource Management Act, which provides for a maximum $200,000 fine. (The Nelson Mail, Thursday 14 August 2008) STUDENTS MUCK IN FOR WATERWAYGarin College students have been out helping to restore the habitat of part of the South Island’s largest estuary. A class of year-nine students was yesterday replanting and clearing rubbish around Reservoir Creek, part of Waimea Inlet. The college is one of six schools, along with several other groups, that have helped to clean up the creek and its surroundings. As well as planting, work had included removing barriers in the creek to allow fish to swim further upstream, removing pest plants and running an education programme about the effect of polluting waterways. The project had been funded by grants from the Environment Ministry until the end of June, and the Nelson City Council and Tasman District Council, whose boundary runs through the area, were now supporting it, he said. (The Nelson Mail, Thursday 14 August 2008) NELMAC TO RUN NCC NURSERYThe Nelson City Council has handed the operation of its plant nursery in Atawhai Drive to its works, maintenance and contracting firm Nelmac. Council parks and facilities manager Paul McArthur said an agreement had been signed with Nelmac, which included a five-year supply contract for all the council’s plant, tree and shrub requirements, the purchase of all equipment, and a lease of the nursery buildings and land. The council has owned and operated the nursery since 1991. It provides plant stock for use in council parks and reserves, and runs as a community operation that allows the public to take part in nursery and planting activities. (The Nelson Mail, Thursday 14 August 2008) VOLUME AND PRICE EASE IN REGIONAL HOUSING MARKETFewer homes are selling in Nelson and the median price has dropped. The Real Estate Institute said 61 houses sold in Nelson city in July, down from 67 in June and 89 in July last year. The median price eased to $310,000 from $345,000 in June and $319,000 in July 2007. The median price for the Nelson-Stoke area fell to $330,000 in July from $345,000 in June. It was $320,000 in July 2007. During the month, 107 houses were sold, compared with 108 in June and 140 in July 2007. Days to sell in Nelson dropped to 45 from 53 in June. In Richmond, it took an average of 60 days to sell a house, against 27 in the previous month. Motueka’s days to sell extended to 92 from 59 the previous month, and Golden Bay averaged 158 days to sell, from 62 the previous month. (The Nelson Mail, Thursday 14 August 2008) PUBLIC HOT AND COLD OVER PUB’S FIRE FIGHTThe Honest Lawyer Country Pub’s battle to be allowed to use its open fire has become a hot issue, with public support narrowly in its favour. The Nelson City Council has served an abatement notice on the Monaco pub, ordering it not to use its inside open fire-place. The council banned the use of open fires in Nelson this year, to improve air quality. Council senior policy planner David Jackson said that under the Resource Management Act, the council could not give the pub a resource consent to use its open fire because it was a prohibited activity under its Air Quality Plan. (The Nelson Mail, Friday 15 August 2008) MARINA PLAN REVITALISEDNCC project provides new impetus (The Nelson Mail, Friday 15 August 2008) FULL HOUSE A BONUS FOR AID GROUPSWith 18 groups all working out of the same building, the Community Groups Centre on Halifax St could be one of Nelson’s busiest workplaces. But for the tenants at the centre there are benefits in sharing a building with such a variety of groups. Tenants’ association spokeswoman Susan Ledingham said the centre housed agencies that worked with a wide range of people. The building’s newest tenant was the Prisoners Aid and Rehabilitation Society, and existing tenants included those helping expectant mothers, arthritis sufferers and newcomers to the region, she said. (The Nelson Mail, Friday 15 August 2008) HYDRO DAM PROPOSED FOR REGIONNetwork moves to generation (The Nelson Mail, Saturday 16 August 2008) COUPLE FINED IN RELATION TO SWIMMING POOLA Nelson couple who put a $60 swimming pool bought on TradeMe into their back yard without putting a fence around it or applying for building consent have been fined nearly $4000. David Bary and Christine Mary Rea were sentenced in the Nelson District Court on Thursday after charges were laid against them by the Nelson City Council. Under the Fencing of Swimming Pools Act 1987, owners of pools and spas more than 400mm deep have to fence them. The fences must be at least 1.2m high and completely enclose the area around the pool. (The Nelson Mail, Saturday 16 August 2008) INDUSTRIAL PARK FOR RICHMONDA group of Dunedin and Christchurch businessmen has applied for resource consent to build a light industrial park with 25 sections in Lower Queen St, Richmond, near the MDF plant. The development is to be called The Oaks Business Park. Promotional material says sections will be priced from $273,000 and range in size from 1012sq m to 5670sq m. The site is being promoted for its “picturesque setting” in the very centre of Richmond’s designated “prime growth area”. The council had received a resource consent application, which was on hold, as the applicant had been asked to provide more information. (The Nelson Mail, Saturday 16 August 2008) NELSON STILL IN STRONG POSITION IN THREE-WAY TIE FNelson remains a strong contender as a site for the proposed United World College, which has just secured dairy giant Fonterra as a major sponsor, New Zealand UWC trust chairman Tony Baldwin says. The backing brings the project closer to the $850,000 needed before proceeding to the next feasibility stage, with $600,000 raised so far, Mr Baldwin said. Mr Baldwin said yesterday that two sites had since been dropped, meaning Nelson was “definitely in the mix”, but a site in the Bay of Islands had now been included. It was now likely to be a three-way contest among Nelson, Queenstown and the Bay of Islands to host the planned $74 million new Zealand college in a global network of 13 United World Colleges. (The Nelson Mail, Saturday 16 August 2008) MELROSE READY FOR NEXT PHASEKeen public interest in the future of Nelson’s Melrose House has prompted its caretaker group to invite community comment on the next phase of the historic home’s life. Melrose Society member Simone Henbrey said yesterday the group would soon be calling for expressions of interest from the public, and start community consultation on how best to make use of the 132-year-old mansion in Brougham St. The house, built in 1876, was gifted in the early 1970s to the Nelson City Council, which maintains its exterior and grounds. The Melrose Society was formed in 1974 and has since run the house as a centre of community activity. Mrs Henbrey and fellow society member Joe Waller spearheaded a campaign this year seeking funds and support for the revitalisation project, which includes a proposal to develop an arts centre and café. (The Nelson Mail, Saturday 16 August 2008) PROPERTY WATCHFast-food outlet
(The Nelson Mail, Saturday 16 August 2008) |
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