‘Timeless grandeur’ in Sol Square comeback bid
Love him or loath him, he remains one of Christchurch’s most indefatigable property developers, with an abiding passion for character buildings.
Discharged from bankruptcy last year, Dave Henderson’s entrepreneurial grit is rekindling. For all of his failings, this is not a column that seeks to trawl through his downfall, the Global Financial Crisis, nor the dangers of borrowing vast sums from secondtier finance companies like Hanover or South Canterbury Finance, or the multitude of entities that got financially burnt when Henderson’s companies couldn’t pay their bills.
His financial track record has been forensically reported and there are plenty of others who will happily do the moralising. But whatever your view of Henderson, it’s hard to deny his sheer doggedness and entrepreneurial zeal.
Last week, I took aim at some of the most decrepit central city sites devoid of any clear plans, let alone signs of tangible progress.
They are a shockingly ugly stain on the city’s incremental comeback.
It prompted Dave Henderson, who’s staging his own quiet comeback of sorts, to invite to get a first-hand taste of his grand designs.
Curiosity won out. 92 Lichfield Street, bookended by the Bus Exchange and the old Sol Square precinct is his launch-pad. That site will be known to many as MSC House, and even better known as the Sargood Son & Ewen building.
Pre-quake, it housed Mu Steakhouse and Base Nightclub, and also the city council’s call centre, before the civic headquarters opened in Hereford St.
It’s a glorious late 19th century red brick and limestone threestorey building, in the heart of the city’s old warehouse district. Purpose-built for the Melbournebased family firm of warehousemen and importers, for many decades, it was THE place many Canterbury retailers, operating general stores across the province, would frequent to stock up on supplies.
Henderson purchased the property 15 years ago, when he was assembling buildings for Sol Square and he strengthened the heritage-listed property considerably.
‘‘It’s a good thing I’m a somewhat anarchistic developer, because rather settling for its existing 33 pe cent earthquake building code, I reinforced it to 88 per cent of code. I wanted it to survive for another 100 years,’’ he says.
Since resolving some protracted insurance wrangles, Henderson’s team have been engaged on the engineering design to get the building back over 80 per cent of the new earthquake code.
‘‘92 Lichfield St and the other Sol Square buildings are fundamentally the last grouping of the warehouse aesthetic in the central city. It’s so sad in many ways, because the whole of Lichfield St used to have quite a unique Edwardian streetscape before the quakes, that didn’t exist anywhere else in New Zealand’’, he laments.
Given a sneak peek through the building, it’s quite the revelation. Five metre floor-to-ceiling spaces, huge panoramic windows and dozens of original cast-iron columns, crowned in Corinthian capitals, permeate the interior with timeless grandeur.
He also envisages re-creating the building’s original ornamental parapet in lightweight materials, that swept across its roofline, until the 1960s.
‘‘There is a class of tenants who covet character space,’’ says Henderson and character office space will occupy the upper floors. The ground floor will feature a
1930s’ style French brasserie, lush and sumptuous, with red leather banquettes and period furnishing, and a dive bar.
‘‘Wherever you go in the world, successful hospitality outlets operate in character spaces, because people love the character experience.’’
But isn’t Christchurch in danger of hospitality saturation? Are we not already over-supplied? Henderson remarks that Christchurch is not a wealthy town and operators should be more mindful of that.
‘‘The easy market is the weekend 10pm-3am bars where you hold some kid’s head back and pour alcohol down their throat. There’s no satisfaction in that.’’
He argues Christchurch needs ‘‘more sophisticated but affordable’’ hospitality offerings. He won’t disclose his full area masterplan yet, however 92 Lichfield St is clearly the first cab off the rank in his attempted resurrection of the SOL Square hospitality hub.
In a city stripped of so much of its built heritage, revitalising the few remaining gems should be welcomed, regardless of the lightning-rod in question.
Henderson believes a reborn and resplendent Sargood Son & Ewen building will emerge from behind the shipping containers, in 12 months’ time.
‘‘Wherever you go in the world, successful hospitality outlets operate in character spaces, because people love the character experience.’’
Dave Henderson