Suburban Club sells to Habitat for Humanity

When opportunity knocked, the chance for home ownership was too good to pass up for Habitat for Humanity.

Habitat for Humanity Nelson general manager Nick Clarke said the charity had been looking for somewhere to lease, having outgrown its current Quarantine Rd site, home to the popular ReStore.

‘‘We heard [the former Nelson Suburban Club] was up for lease, then Gibbons made a throwaway comment about it being for sale,’’ Clarke said.

Buying a property wasn’t part of Habitat’s plan, but the price was right and the opportunity too good to miss, and the charity arranged finance through lender Christian Savings, he said.

Owning the building meant Habitat would be able to ‘‘future proof’’.

‘‘This is a massive step for us. It means we’re never vulnerable to increasing rents, so we can plan to address housing for decades.’’

The building once housed the Nelson Suburban Club, which moved out in 2017 after 47 years. In 2016, the building was bought by Gibbons Property a division of Gibbons Holdings. It announced at the time it planned to refurbish the site for use as a mixed retail development. Most recently, the space has been in operation as a temporary Covid-19 testing centre.

Habitat for Humanity is a Christian charity which has operated in Nelson for more than two decades, and is part of a worldwide network helping people find housing and build communities.

This ethos – ‘‘being kind and doing good’’ – would be front and centre for Habitat when it moved into the new building in the spring, Clarke said.

‘‘It will be a community hub – not just welfare, a whole range of things, working with others.’’

With Habitat requiring only about half the floor space, it was on the lookout for like-minded community groups and social enterprises to become tenants, he added.

‘‘We’re thinking about other things we can be doing, and how we can steward an asset like this effectively. We’ve been very fortunate.’’

Meanwhile, another op shop has moved in Nelson. The Salvation Army Family Store has shifted from Paru Paru Rd and opened in Montgomery Square.

VIRGINIA WOOLF/STUFF Habitat for Humanity general manager Nick Clarke outside the old Suburban Club on Tahunanui Drive which is to become Habitat’s community hub and new operational base.