Sky-high $40m asking price for penthouse
Real estate records could be set at this country’s tallest apartment tower, where the highest price asked is now being sought for the penthouse.
Australian-headquartered Icon Construction has reached level 57 on the superstructure of the $300 million Pacifica apartment tower in the Britomart area, which now dominates Auckland’s skyline.
A price milestone is possible if the owner gets the figure being asked for the penthouse on the top two residential levels of the block between Commerce St and Gore St, not far from the waterfront.
Liz Scott, of Hengyi Pacific which is developing the tower, said $40 million was being sought for the supreme penthouse if it was fitted out according to the planned specifications.
That would eclipse the $39m record set in 2013 by agent Graham Wall when he sold a new multi-level, multisection Paritai Dr mansion to businessman Stone Shi.
However, Wall said he doubted his record would be topped — referring to the Covid-19 pandemic and the fact that the apartments would be accessed via an elevator in a building where more than 300 people could be living.
But Scott said the super penthouse owner would get priority elevator services so its owner would enjoy special benefits and a degree of isolation.
“These will be the fastest lifts in the country,” she said.
“We’ve certainly got very special vertical transport systems through the building, plus these apartments are larger than many others in the city.”
Hengyi had previously indicated an asking price of $38m for that penthouse but Scott clarified that figure was without the interior fitout according to plan specifications.
“The concept plan has been priced off the renderings,” Scott said, although a buyer might seek to change aspects of those plans to fit their own interior preferences.
“The $40m is the price for the concept. It’s indicative,” said Scott.
“We have refined that concept and re-engineered the floor plan. Everything is more accurate.
“That’s why it has gone up,” she said, referring to the difference between $38m and $40m.
Scott said the superstructure had reached level 57, meaning the tower had risen as far as it would go. However, the floor slabs were yet to reach that high.
“The Pacifica has reached its full height,” she said. “The level 55 floor slab was poured on May 15 and two levels above of plant and roof structure.
“The jump form removal has now started, so people can expect to see that come off the building during the next few days. The total height of the building is 178m,” said Scott.
Seascape, the new apartment tower being built nearby, is to be 187m tall but will also have 57 levels. It is still
[Penthouse buyer] might be domestic but there’s a reasonable likelihood it may appeal to a foreign person or an expat.
Liz Scott,
Hengyi Pacific
at the foundation stage.
Scott said 85 per cent of the 273 Pacifica apartments were sold, meaning about 232 units gone and 41 units as yet unsold.
Jason Gaddes and Scarlett Wood of Sotheby’s International Realty got the sole agency for the super penthouse on levels 53 and 54.
They were also marketing other penthouses in the building with CBRE, Gaddes said.
Asked who was interested in the $40m super penthouse so far, he said:
“We’ve had inquiries on that from the United States and Europe.”
The Pacifica won Overseas Investment Office standing consent orders, meaning foreigners are not barred from buying apartments, as they would be with other residential property after amendments to the Overseas Investment Act in 2018.
Advertising says: “The Pacifica super penthouse offers 360 degree views and a premium luxury previously unseen on these shores.”
The Pacifica’s architects are Australians
Jaimin Atkins and Ian Briggs, of Plus Architecture, and Dan Ashbyheaded Icon is on the project.
New Zealand’s tallest apartment tower is the 40-level Metropolis but the highest structure is the SkyTower, at 328m. Commercial Bay’s new PwC Tower is 40 levels tall.
Scott said the buyer “might be domestic but there’s a reasonable likelihood it may appeal to a foreign person or an expat”.
The Pacifica would be finished this year, she said.