Mayor plans to keep house

jack.montgomerie@fairfaxmedia.co.nz A house surrounded by commercial developments could prove to be a valuable asset for Timaru’s mayor.

Timaru real estate agent Gerald Morton says a ‘‘very strategically positioned property’’ on Timaru’s Elizabeth St would be likely to increase in value after a neighbouring $10 million commercial development was completed.

A property title report lists the owner of the house built in 1910 as Yedo Investments Limited, of which Timaru District Mayor Damon Odey is a director and shareholder.

The neighbouring commercial building, which houses Specsavers, the Better Bods shop and cafe, and the Kevin Hessell School of Swimming, was listed for sale by tender on Tuesday.

One of the building’s agents, Bruce Wilson, partner at Reid and Wilson, said guessing whether the value of the house would increase because of the development was ‘‘a very hard question to answer’’ immediately.

However, he believed the string of commercial buildings being built in Timaru were ‘‘all good for the town’’.

Odey said on Tuesday he had no plans to redevelop the commercially zoned ‘‘wee rental’’ for which council records give a land value of $140,000 and a capital value of $180,000.

Odey said he ‘‘paid too much’’ for the house, which Morton said last sold in March 2012 from a previous owner who had been deter- mined to ‘‘live there until his final days’’.

Resource consent documents for The Landing development suggest the 2100 square metre retail and office building would enclose the property’s garden on

... the string of commercial buildings being built in Timaru were all good for the town. Reid and Wilson partner, Bruce Wilson

the north and east sides.

Odey said he had a ‘‘brief discussion’’ with developers Timaru Retail Project, who decided the property ‘‘didn’t add anything’’ to The Landing.

Contractors

are

laying foundations for The Landing, which is expected to include Pita Pit, Hell Pizza and BurgerFuel restaurants, a Hunting & Fishing shop and law firm Timpany Walton’s offices.

The neighbouring section, which sits on the corner of Theodosia St and Elizabeth St, had been empty for years, Morton said.

The section had been the subject of plans for a $12m hotel and a car showroom and workshop before that, resulting in the removal of houses from the site.