On the books in central Gisborne
A landmark character commercial building in Gisborne’s city centre has come to the market.
Its vacant possession may open the door to creating an upper-level apartment conversion above a ground-floor retail tenancy.
62 Gladstone Rd is being vacated by Muirs Bookshop – one of New Zealand’s largest and oldest independent book retailers – with the business set to move to premises further along the busy main street.
For many years, there was a caf upstairs which utilised the sunny balcony and complemented the ground-floor bookshop.
The two-level character masonry building dates back to the early 1900s and has had many incarnations since starting out as Burton and Griffiths ironmongers and hardware store.
Newspaper advertisements in 1907 stated that store sold harvesting and carpenters’ tools, bush felling tools and builders’ requisites, and a furnishing department.
The property offers a total 440sq m of floor area and sits on a narrow 373sq m site.
There is a full-height glazed frontage for the street-level retail tenancy, an internal staircase and other original features like intricate stained-glass fanlight windows on the upper level, exposed brick walls and ceiling trusses, and the wrought iron upper balcony.
It is listed as a heritage building in Gisborne District Council's district plan, but not on the NZ Historic Places Trust register.
The building was strengthened in 2013 and is rated 100 per cent NBS.
The north-facing freehold property will be sold by tender closing Wednesday March 6 through Bayleys Gisborne commercial salesperson Mike Florance.
He said a new owner could seek a replacement retail or office tenant for the ground floor and potentially look to convert the upper level to a lock-and-leave apartment.
“I’ve been fielding good inquiry on the property from a range of prospective local buyers keen to reinvest in their city and see it flourish. The council is also keen to see more residential accommodation within the CBD to create a vibrant and compact 24-hour city and encourages inner-city apartment living to optimise vacant second floors.”
Florance said the property has off-street parking and rear access via a right-of-way. “This commercial investment property provides huge scope for a new owner to add value and optimise the good bones that the building boasts.”