Heatherlea house under demolition

Press, 20 November 1987, Page 9

Heatherlea house under demolition

Efforts to keep intact historic Heatherlea homestead have failed. It is being demolished to make way for a $l2 million apartment block. Mr Russell Boddington, of Brittco Properties and Heatherlea Apartments, Ltd, developere of the $l2 million project, said several attempts had been made to auction the homestead. An offer of it to a museum had failed.

The 99-year-old Deans Avenue building, a wedding and conference venue for the last 27 years, is now “being dismantled for reuse elsewhere.”

“One of the fireplaces, for example, “is destined to become a special feature in the new Par-

kroyal Hotel,” Mr Boddington said.

The reason the historic building — although not classified as such by the Historic Places Trust — could not be sold intact and moved was the prohibitive removal costs.

Mr Boddington said relocation would cost about $50,000, on top of the cost of the homestead and a new site. Costs for some of the apartments have almost doubled in the five months since the development was announced.

The cheapest flats are now $385,000 — up $135,000, and the penthouse suites have risen from about $1 million to nearly $2 million. Mr Boddington said the

original costings were an estimate and had been expected to Increase. Nearly half of the apartments had sold, he said.

If the $2 million penthouses sell they may well be the highest priced .residential sale in Christchurch. Mr Peter Cook, of W. E. Simes and Company, can remember only one previous $1 millionplus residential sale in the city.

The Riccarton Borough Council is considering a scheme change to allow only three-level developments in the area. If resolved the new scheme will not be retrospective and Heatherlea apartments will still be built