A gentleman’s aggrievement
CASUALTY OF A $30M LEGACY
A Wellington furniture-maker is being forced to pack up his tools, after the death of his longstanding benefactor.
Rick White secured his workshop in Leeds St 31 years ago, thanks to a handshake deal with former District Court judge Ian Borrin.
But Borrin died in March, leaving the building as part of a $30 million bequest to create a charitable trust.
White, owner of Waywood Furniture, was paying $800 a month in rent, which never changed while Borrin was alive. The full commercial monthly rate today would be about 10 times that.
White had planned to carry on working in the workshop until he died, happy, over his workbench. ‘‘Never had a lease, never had a rent increase,’’ he said.
But two weeks after Borrin’s death, property manager Ian Patterson told him he was not wanted there: in April he was given two months to leave.
White said the workshop had been his ‘‘constant’’ as he lived through two global financial meltdowns, several marriages, raising children and the death of his parents.
‘‘Through that shit it’s been a constant. I shouldn’t have become attached, but of course you are.’’
Financially, he is fighting for as much exit time as possible – to find new premises, move his heavy machinery, and still complete work he has taken on.
He feels as if he is being bullied out, and passed up an offer of $20,000 last year to get out, by a business keen to take over the lease.
Borrin set up the charitable trust, to be administered by the Nikau Foundation, to boost legal education and research. When he died, it was the biggest single bequest in New Zealand history.
Patterson said the Leeds St property was part of the portfolio left by the judge that had yet to be handed over to the foundation.
White had been taking advantage of the situation for years, leasing what was admittedly ‘‘a pretty grotty’’ building for a peppercorn rental, he said.
Patterson believed White was given every opportunity to negotiate an exit, but was delaying and refusing to talk.
He said he had a duty to the judge’s estate and the foundation to ‘‘maximise the revenue stream’’ from his properties.
There was a prospective new tenant who had made an unconditional written offer to take a lease and redevelop the property.
Patterson said he spoke to Borrin before his death, and it was his wish that the redevelopment proceed.
There was no written record of the judge’s wishes with regard to White’s workshop: ‘‘The judge wanted him to exit in a friendly manner, but also in a timely manner.’’
White had now been given 31⁄2 months to leave. ‘‘He’s getting on a bit, he’s just trying to maximise the value of his tenancy. The world’s moved on, I’m afraid.
‘‘We’re now in a commercial world, and I’m afraid Rick is a minor casualty.’’
Nikau Foundation manager Louise Parkin said the group did not yet have Borrin’s assets in the trust, as they were still in probate.
She confirmed Borrin had the discretion to hold White’s rent unchanged for 31 years, and said the full commercial rate for the premises would be about $80,000 a year.
But at present, once rates and insurance were paid, the property was actually losing money.
‘‘Strictly, it would be unethical for us to subsidise an individual business owner at the trust’s expense, for charitable purposes.’’