Napier quake survivor ready for new era
"If it hadn't been for the new building standard requirements, the historic Napier Central Post Office building could well have remained in a somewhat dated state."
Bayleys Napier salesman Sam MacDonald
Napier’s former Central Post Office, an iconic art deco building in the inner city, is for sale.
The former post office, on the corner of Dickens and Hastings streets in Napier’s central business district, was built in 1930.
The former government-owned building was one of few large buildings in the area to survive intact the massive 1931 Hawke’s Bay earthquake, which killed 256 people.
The building is owned by Waste of Space Aviation, whose managing director, pilot Gerald Grocott, once owned Napier’s most expensive home.
In 2011 the building was declared earthquake prone and anchor tenants New Zealand Post and Kiwibank moved out.
Three years of seismic work, completed in early 2014, brought the building up to 100 per cent of the new building standard and the building was steadily re-tenanted.
It now houses 12 businesses including NZ Post and the Napier City Council, a hair salon, Cafe Adoro, Accura Accounting, Indelible Film and Video Marketing, and Vodafone.
The 12 tenancies generate a combined annual rental revenue of $558,362 plus GST.
The property at 1 Dickens St had a rateable value of $6.6 million in September 2017.
Bayleys Napier salesman Sam MacDonald said the lease terms among the tenants varied, but the longest stretched six years with multiple rights of renewal.
The 3185-square-metre building, which is zoned inner-city commercial, sits on 1554sqm of freehold land next to the Napier City Council’s car park on Upper Dickens St.
‘‘The ramifications of the Canterbury earthquakes in 2010 and 2011, in terms of older-style buildings having to be strengthened to meet new building standards, has actually been a bonus for the former Napier Central Post Office. If it hadn’t been for the new building standard requirements, the historic Napier Central Post Office building could well have remained in a somewhat dated state,’’ MacDonald said.
He said the resulting new floor plate expanded the number of tenancies in the building, but the refurbishment maintained the art deco stone facade, high ceilings, central entrance foyer, and dualstorey floor-to-ceiling windows.
He said that over the past four years, this part of Napier’s CBD had undergone significant redevelopment to underpin both its commercial and retail appeal.
‘‘Major building upgrades around the old Napier Central Post Office include both the new Farmers and Kathmandu stores, the Paxie’s Lane development, which connects Marine Parade with Hastings St, and the justcompleted 202 Hastings St – the new home of Macpac.’’