Damaged car park sells for $18.5m

From one earthquake-damaged building to another, the owner of the now-demolished 61 Molesworth St has snapped up a multi-storey car park building in central Wellington.

Eyal Aharoni bought James Smith car park in Wakefield St for $18.5 million.

Aharoni is the director of Primeproperty Group, which was ordered to pay more than $7500 for renting out 61 Molesworth St illegally.

He signed the contract for the car park building in September, before November’s 7.8-magnitude earthquake. However, the quake struck before he settled.

He already had plans in place to strengthen the building, a project that Aharoni believed could take up to a year.

‘‘It will be a while – probably be a year,’’ he said.

‘‘It’s a bit early to say because engineers are still working on it … We were planning to strengthen it because we thought it wasn’t 100 per cent anyway … but now there is further damage so we have to fix it up.’’

However, due to the shortage of car parks in Wellington, Aharoni hoped to get it back up and running as soon as possible

Prior to buying the building, the company had leased it and was in charge of the day-to-day operations.

Since the November quake, it has been closed as it suffered structural damage. This meant 733 car parks were out of action in central Wellington.

CBRE Wellington managing director Matthew St Amand said car park buildings in Wellington had always been sought after.

‘‘As it is in other major cities, the supply of car parks in Wellington has been impacted by the recent earthquake, and James Smith’s car park has not yet reopened,’’ St Amand said.

‘‘We understand the seismic assessment process is still being undertaken.’’

Mark Schiele, who is the chief executive of the building’s former manager, Oyster Property Group, said the James Smith car park had been damaged in both the 2013 and 2016 earthquakes.

It was still in need of repairs from both quakes, he said, which meant it was no longer a viable commercial property investment.

‘‘It made commercial sense to move the property on if an optimal outcome to investors could be achieved,’’ Schiele said.

‘‘And, at $18.5 million, the sale was at a premium to current valuation.’’

Primeproperty Group has property investments in Wellington, Hamilton, Tauranga and Christchurch.

PHOTOS: KEVIN STENT/FAIRFAX NZ Many Wellington buildings were affected by the earthquake in November, including the James Smith car park on Wakefield St.

Eyal Aharoni, left, in discussion with Wellington City Council building consents and compliance manager Mike Scott, in November.