A Main man for pads on Parade
Big plans to unpack Ikea store in NZ
HOT on the heels of having his 14-storey tower approved on a 617sq m block at Main Beach, developer Stephen Anderson has made another investment on the same street.
The former Hayman Homes owner has splashed $2.2 million on a threebedroom, three-bathroom apartment in the tightly-held Ocean Resort building at 3527 Main Beach Pde.
It’s the first sale in the exclusive five-unit building in more than 10 years, with one held for 20 years.
Mr Anderson’s boutique buy was held by former owners and “retail hub” developers Kylee and Daniel Burke for 16 years since they picked it up for $720,000.
Neighbours include Brisbane pharmacy king Richard Malouf and his wife Anne-Marie, who bought in a decade ago at $4.95 million.
Mr Anderson has council approval four doors down, at 3513 Main Beach Pde, for five luxury three-bedroom, twostorey apartments, topped by a tri-level penthouse.
The council has used the flexible provisions of the town plan to heavily discount the setback requirements for the block, to allow the 49.8m tower to be placed on the skinny site.
Mr Anderson bought the beachfront apartment from none other than comeback real estate agent Harry Kakavas.
Mr Kakavas is better known for losing $1.5 billion in bets at Melbourne’s Crown Casino, and going on to lose unconscionable conduct claims against the casino in both the Supreme and High Courts.
The former “King of Hedges” regained his real estate agent licence in 2013 and is working with Prestige Property Sales. SWEDISH home furnishings giant Ikea announced plans yesterday to open its first New Zealand store.
The company said it would build the store near the largest city of Auckland over the next few years, and would open a pop-up store to give customers a taste of what was to come before the flagship store opened.
The announcement was welcomed by many New Zealanders concerned with high prices and limited selections for home furnishings, due in part to the costs of shipping to the island nation of five million people. Others worried that Ikea could spell doom for some local retailers and manufacturers. Ikea said planning is still under way for the location, size and opening date of the store, which would include a restaurant featuring its famous Swedish meatballs. The company said it would employ several hundred New Zealanders and offer 7000 products in the store and online.
The store will be run by the Ingka Group, which is the biggest retailer for Ikea within its franchise system. Ikea announced last month it was granting Ingka the franchise rights to New Zealand.
“We’re really looking forward to bringing the full Ikea experience to New Zealand, working in partnership with the local community to make Ikea a part of Kiwis’ lives at home, starting with Auckland,” said Ingka Group chief executive Jesper Brodin in a statement.
Last November, Ingka announced plans to create a net 4000 jobs over the next two years by expanding its online presence and opening new stores in city centres to complement its trademark larger stores in the suburbs. But it also planned staffing cutbacks.
It said the changes would create 11,500 new jobs and it would lay off 7500 staff.
Ingka operates 367 Ikea stores in 30 countries and employs about 160,000 of Ikea’s total workforce of 208,000.
Ikea was founded in Sweden in 1943. The Ikea Group has its headquarters in Leiden, the Netherlands.