Hunter Valley’s foreign buyer ‘an asset’
The sale of Hunter Valley Station at Lake Hawea to an unnamed American buyer will be a better deal than if it had sold to a Kiwi.
That is the view of Queenstownbased real estate agent Matt Finnigan of Sothebys about the sale of the 10,759-hectare Crown pastoral lease over the property.
When approving sales to overseas buyers the Overseas Investment Office (OIO) often negotiates public access.
‘‘Public access groups all participated in the process with the OIO over the past 10 months so the public has already had a say,’’ Finnigan said.
The OIO report said there would be ‘‘substantial and identifiable benefits’’ including development and walking access, but it has yet to reveal them.
A Fish & Game representative, Neil Watson, said he took part in consultation meetings on access to Lake Hawea and up the Hunter Valley but had not been given a report on the outcome.
The new access arrangements come after years of disagreement between locals and the former owners, Don and Penny Cochrane.
The Cochranes will remain as sub-lessees of the property under the new owner and will be bound by any access arrangements.
The OIO described the buyer as a ‘‘key person in a key industry’’.
Finnigan said he had signed a confidentiality agreement to keep the buyer’s name secret.
‘‘All I’m prepared to say about the buyer is he will be an asset to the country,’’ he said.
‘‘The New Zealand public has an excellent result, far more than it would under a Kiwi owner.’’
Finnigan said his firm dealt with overseas as well as Kiwi buyers in equal measure, with most of the New Zealanders being expatriates.
‘‘I find the New Zealand bolthole story really intriguing. I’ve been contacted by The Guardian, The New Yorker and the Financial Times ... No-one rang me about the sale of Mt Albert last year to a Kiwi buyer.’’
The price of the deal also remains a secret. The capital value was $13.2 million.