Office building being refitted for new hotel
Work has begun converting a
mid-20th-century office building into a new hotel with shops underneath and a rooftop cocktail bar.
The building, at 159 Manchester St in central Christchurch, was damaged in the earthquakes and threatened with demolition before being bought by developer Box 112.
The 40-room hotel will be operated by Sarin Group, a New Zealand-based family company that owns and manages hotels for brands including Accor, Hilton and Intercontinental.
The company received a
$900,000 ratepayers grant towards strengthening and preserving the building, built between 1957 and
1960 to a Peter Beaven design for the Canterbury Terminating Building Society.
Box 112 director Rob Farrell said it was stripping out the building now. It had both resource and building consent from the city council.
‘‘It’s great – we’ve owned it for a year and now that we’ve got it designed and tenanted, we can breathe a sigh of relief and start building.’’
The building was the first large-scale office building constructed in Christchurch after World War II. Its features include bronze window detailing and a rooftop pavilion where hospitality operator Tom Newfield will establish a cocktail bar.
Sarin Group also owns a site on Gloucester St between Press House and Cathedral Junction, where it plans to build a $30m hotel.
Box 112 bought the Manchester St building from a company called Boltbox, which had bought it from the liquidator of a collapsed Christchurch property company. It had been one of the victims of the failed insurer, Western Pacific, after the earthquakes.
The building looked set for demolition at that time. Boltbox sought consent to strengthen and repair it in 2016 and opposed council moves to give it a heritage listing, saying that would make repairs too difficult and costly.
Box 112 hopes to have the building finished by the end of next year. It has recently completed the restoration of the Midland Building on Oxford Tce, and is part way through working on the former Public Trust offices, also on Oxford Tce.