Retail complex planned for Colombo St

Press, 8 April 1987, Page 9

Retail complex planned for Colombo St

By

GLEN PERKINSON

Commercial property values in historic areas of Christchurch City are up to Queen Street, Auckland, proportions, says one property developer who this week spent more than $3 million to secure just five small shops.

Ms Lynley Cooper, of Cooper and Associates, spent $3.5 million buying five properties in Colombo Street which she claimed would give her company “control” of an area that would become a sought-after spot for retail developments. The historic value of the properties, and the New Albion Tavern across the road, make it one of the most expensive pieces of real estate in Christchurch.

Cooper and Associates plans to create a “trendy, Parnell-like” retail complex in the Colombo Street block. It should be on the way to completion within three months, Ms

Cooper said. “It will be solely retail — just a little bit of office space — because the foot traffic out there is just enormous. Up-market retail outlets like delicatessans and other trendy shops will want to trade there,” she said. She claimed there would be no difficulty in getting tenants to fill the developed block. But finding retailers to occupy the high-rental block was one aspect of the Colombo Street deal Ms Cooper’s company had not sealed. There were a few “sniffing” round though. All Christchurch’s progress was “happening” in the northern area round Colombo, Kilmore and Peterborough Streets, Ms Cooper said. "I think that all the new buildings will eventually go round the Colombo Street corner and into Kilmore Street, past the Town Hall and beyond.

“We don’t want to own the whole area but we have got a good stake with this block of shops, and if we can secure the pub across the road we will have control of the area,” she said. The company is negotiating to complete the purchase of the New Albion Tavern. Ms Cooper would not be specific about the price but said it was “around $2 million.” The shops are some of the smallest titles in Christchurch — about 152 square metres (about six perches) each. “The historic value of the sites will see the block be a success — I am confident the historic value will come through,” she said. Cooper and Associates has been functioning as property developers for three years. Based in Christchurch it has extensive ownership of property in Wellington and Auckland totalling more than $25 million.