Inside the country’s most expensive apartment
Two clifftop pads overlooking Mission Bay briefly claimed the title of New Zealand’s most expensive apartments.
One also has links to our America’s Cup entrant Team NZ.
The boutique pads at 20A and
20B Selwyn Ave became New Zealand’s most expensive apartments when they sold for $9.5 million and $9.6m last year, but were eclipsed by a recent sale, Real Estate Institute records show.
They boast sweeping Hauraki Gulf views from almost every room, an internal lift and underground parking with special ports to charge Tesla, BMW and other electric vehicles.
Perched above Tamaki Drive on a clifftop that juts into the water, the apartments sit on a prime waterfront site.
“These prestigious apartments will put you in pole position to watch the America’s Cup,” advertisements by Ray
White Remuera stated at the time of their sale.
Property records subsequently revealed
Team NZ director and corporate lawyer Greg Horton was now listed as an owner of
20A Selwyn Ave. His name was in the records alongside Paul and Carolyn Simons, who bought the high-end digs in June last year.
The near-identical 20B Selwyn Ave was bought for $100,000 more by a business couple last November.
Horton, who was Team NZ director when the Kiwi team won the America’s Cup in 2017, is now a director of the company that will stage the next America’s Cup event in New Zealand in 2021. He has also spoken publicly about his battle with motor neuron disease.
The Selwyn Ave sales both surpassed the prior $9.25m record apartment sale of a Parnell penthouse in 2018.
Another flamboyant penthouse on the 29th floor of Takapuna’s Sentinel building — which once played host to America’s Next Top Model — also sold for $9m last January.
The boutique apartment complex at 20 Selwyn Ave, meanwhile, was built by Peter and Judy Jones — known for their highend development builds. The Joneses bought 26 Selwyn Ave and two neighbouring properties in 2015/2016 for a total of $16.73m.
Auckland Council records then revealed how they planned to convert part of the land into the three-level boutique apartment complex at 20 Selwyn Ave. Council records also showed plans for a two-level home next door.
Architectural drawings showed a home of at least 600sq m with clifftop pool.
The couple still own 26 Selwyn Ave.