Chow brothers scrap Welly hotel plans

Millionaire property tycoons the Chow brothers have scrapped plans to transform their head office into a hotel.

Michael and John Chow made the decision following the November earthquakes, which caused widespread damage throughout the country, including Wellington.

Last year, the brothers made plans to convert their commercial office on Courtenay Pl into a 230-room, four-star hotel.

However, the decision was reversed in the wake of the quakes.

‘‘An important consideration for businesses is the safety of buildings in the event of seismic activity,’’ Michael Chow said.

‘‘The structural integrity of 89 Courtenay Place was not affected by the November 2016 7.8 earthquake, meaning our existing tenants were undisturbed while much of the city came to an abrupt halt.’’

The brothers have ditched their hotel plans, opting to retain the property as office space because it made better financial sense, he said.

The Chows are not the only developers to scrap accommodation

"We are very excited about this multimilliondollar investment." Michael Chow

plans in the wake of the earthquake, which has left Wellington with a shortage of good quality office space.

Chris Parkin, the former owner of the Museum Hotel, had planned to convert the HP Building on Gilmer Tce into luxury apartments. But shortly after the quake he opted to lease the building, which is now Statistics New Zealand’s main building for at least the next two years.

On top of that, a fire in Sofitel Wellington’s restaurant forced the closure of the capital’s newest fivestar hotel, only five months after it welcomed its first guests.

Management closed the hotel on December 2 and plan to reopen in mid-July.

The Chow brothers say they will now be pouring millions into refurbishing and strengthening the building.

‘‘As part of our refurbishment plans, we are taking steps to increase our NBS [national building standard] rating from 71 per cent to 88 per cent,’’ Michael Chow said.

Work was expected to begin later this month, and should be completed by the end of June.

‘‘We are very excited about this multimillion-dollar investment,’’ he said.

Naming rights for the Courtenay Pl building are also available.

The Chow brothers, who also have interests in strip clubs, aim to manage $1 billion worth of property by 2020.