Gina linked to CBD sale
ONE OF the country’s most historic buildings, long rumoured to be owned by Australia’s richest person, Gina Rinehart, is up for sale.
Blackett’s Building, on the corner of Queen and Shortland Streets in Auckland’s CBD, was built in 1878-1879 and is described by the NZ Historic Places Trust as one of the earliest surviving structures in Queen St.
‘‘Blackett’s Building is one of the finest examples in Auckland of commercial architecture from the second half of last century. It is also one of very few buildings of this period left in Auckland,’’ according to the Historic Places Trust website.
Last week the building was advertised for sale but the identity of its ultimate owner is a mystery.
Both the Blackett’s Building and the even more historic Ferry Building on Auckland’s waterfront, have long been rumoured to be owned by interests associated with the Australian mining magnate.
Last month Forbes Magazine estimated Rinehart’s fortune at A$20.3 billion, making her Australia’s richest person.
When the Sunday StarTimes emailed Rinehart, via her principal business Hancock Prospecting, to ask whether her family interests also intended to sell the Ferry Building, Hancock’s information manager Mark Bickerton responded that ‘‘Hancock Prospecting does not have, and never has had, any ownership interest in the Blackett’s Building.’’
But Bickerton did not refute the assertion that Rinehart’s family interests ultimately owned both buildings.
However the Blackett’s Building’s previous owner, Auckland property investor