FRINGE APPEAL

Eden Terrace apartment is next to the action yet still has a relaxing vibe, writes DARIA KUPRIENKO

EDEN TERRACE

121/184 Symonds Street

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Cristina Mendez Llorente loves apartment living. “It’s always been the way people live overseas and now Auckland is a true international city.”

The busy naturopath and her teenage daughter have lived in their ground floor property in the Italian-inspired Citta complex on the corner of Symonds Street and Khyber Pass for five years now, and they’ve never grown tired of it.

“It’s so close to everything with the CBD, Karangahape Road, Ponsonby and Newmarket all within easy walking distance, and the public transport is frequent and convenient,” says Cristina.

The building, which was built around 15 years ago, contains around 100 apartments and 90 carparks.

Its construction signalled a new era for Symonds Street where Victorian and Edwardian shops had suffered a decline in popularity since the area was transformed completely in the 1960s, as vast gullies were excavated during the construction of Auckland’s motorways.

Nowadays the area is bustling again as commuters pass through on their way to work in the city, or to the university. Citta apartments are in good school zones — including Newmarket primary, Auckland Grammar School, Auckland Girls Grammar and Mount Albert Grammar.

Cristina’s sunny north-facing apartment is just 53sq m, but feels much bigger and she says it works very well for two people.

“We like to live simply, and we try not to acquire lots of possessions.”

Since moving in Cristina has updated the kitchen and the bathroom and repainted much of the interior, using light, bright colours.

“One of the biggest attractions for me is the courtyard, which our apartment opens to,” she says.

“It’s never busy and nobody would even know it was here.”

A gardener comes regularly to keep the trees and shrubs in shape and Cristina says that she enjoys the fact that the windows are cleaned regularly.

“The body corporate is generally quite good and the other apartment owners are lovely,” she says.

“I have two car parks and I think storage lockers are available for residents who need them. “I’ve made some close friends here.”

Cristina and her family are moving to Dunedin, where she is hoping to launch her own skincare range.

She says that if she ever returns to Auckland, she would almost definitely buy another apartment. “It suits me very well,” she says.

The apartment is being marketed by Rickus Moll and Damian Piggin from Ray White, City Apartments.

“It’s quite a special place because this is a complex with a high number of owneroccupiers and the apartments tend to be tightly held so they don’t often come to market,” Rickus says.

“It’s also good in terms of size because at just over 50sq m, the banks will probably look favourably at a first home buyer, and hopefully require only 5 per cent deposit — or 20 per cent if it’s an investor.” Auction: October 31 Contact: Rickus Moll, Ray White, 022 158 5700; Damian Piggin, 021 828 583