Campus site bought for $10, sold for $28m
Victoria University reaped a major windfall from the sale of its unwanted Karori Campus, with a retirement village operator paying millions more than the land’s rateable value.
Property records revealed that a company controlled by Ryman Healthcare paid $28 million for the site from the university back in December. The rateable value of the land was $20.4m.
At the time, both the university and Ryman refused to talk publicly about the price, despite the fact that details of the transaction would inevitably be made public within months.
Yesterday, a spokeswoman for the university requested evidence that the sales price was indeed publicly available. After the details were supplied, the university refused to comment.
A spokesman for Ryman refused to comment beyond saying it was ‘‘delighted’’ to have acquired the site.
The company, which has 32 retirement villages across New Zealand and is establishing operations in Australia, has indicated it will demolish a number of buildings on the site, which it described as ‘‘iconic’’ at the time of the purchase.
Victoria University acquired the title for the site of the Karori Campus in 2015, for a nominal sum of $10, despite the fact that it had been responsible for maintaining the site for a decade.
Just over a year later, it declared the site as surplus to requirements and put it up for sale.
The process became fraught, with councillors and MPs making various claims that the site should be purchased by Wellington City Council or the Ministry of Education. Wellington Central MP Grant Robertson suggested the land should be set aside for new schools.
Victoria University made it clear that it would consider bids but the price to purchase, and of the land, including under the Public Works Act, would be at market value.
‘‘Given the university got the land for nothing, it leaves a very sour taste in the mouth,’’ Wellington City councillor Andy Foster said last August.
When the land was put up for tender, no bids were received from public organisations.
Proceeds from the sale ‘‘will be used for further strengthening the university’s buildings and the future provision of modern facilities for Victoria’s Faculty of Education’’, the university said.