APARTMENT LIVING
City buzz is all within easy walking distance of this central apartment, writes Donna McIntyre
When Lorraine Lipman bought this large two-bedroom apartment in Wolfe St, the Auckland apartment market was just taking off. It was 1994 and the top floors of freehold Dunningham House had just been converted into boutique apartments, a different usage to the building’s early years as a kauri gum store and spice warehouse. The apartments were a few minutes’ walk from Queen St, the waterfront and what is now the popular Viaduct area.
“When we bought, it was nearing completion. Someone had bought it and changed their minds and we bought from them,” says Lorraine.
“My then husband and myself bought it as an investment but we had strict criteria, as some the apartments being built or converted had, for example, internal bedrooms with no windows. “At the time it was not for us to live in.”
The apartment had been rented out while Lorraine was living in New Zealand but when she left the country in March 2015 with her present partner to do a two-year “old age” OE, she had thought she would return to live in Dunningham House.
“During that time, we were living in Poland. In June 2015, my property agent asked if I wanted a fixed term tenancy on a new tenancy agreement being signed. I said no as if we returned to NZ . . . then we would move into Dunningham. We would have loved to do that.
“However, in April 2017 we moved to England and have decided to settle here.”
She says the apartment has been easy to rent out. “It has hardly been empty since 1994; maybe a couple of weeks in between tenants or when it was being painted. One tenant stayed about eight years.”
Lorraine’s apartment is on the third level of the landmark brick and concrete building. From the lift or stairs, you come into the apartment’s lounge, dining and kitchen. The two bedrooms are on the Wolfe St side. The Jack and Jill bathroom, with a door from the main bedroom and one from the hall, plus a separate toilet, are on the south side.
Sunlight floods into the north-facing apartment through the large windows in the lounge and bedrooms.
Though Lorraine has not done any major renovations, it has been well-maintained with carpet and blinds replaced, and walls repainted.
She thinks there are many appealing aspects of her apartment — being freehold and secure, having the high stud and large windows — including that it is only rarely that any apartments change hands.
“And the location is fantastic — on the doorstep of the Viaduct, Wynyard Quarter, Queen St, Victoria Park and all these places have to offer.”
The apartment is now for sale since Lorraine is staying in the Northern Hemisphere.
“Our ‘old age’ OE has seen us decide to move permanently out of NZ,” she says.
She thinks the apartment would be suitable for a variety of people.
“Professionals who work in the city and/or professionals who like to spend leisure time in the city. Retirees who want a low maintenance apartment in the city either for permanent living or who live somewhere else and want to weekend and holiday in the city. Or it could be a family of three. To my knowledge, my tenant who was there for eight years had his young son at weekends.”