VALUE OF LAND

Evening Post, Issue 66, 15 September 1936, Page 4

VALUE OF LAND

BUSINESS AREA SITE

FIXING A RENTAL

Many-figured sums representing the •valuation and rental of sites in Wei--?lington's business area were quoted in the Supreme Court today, when the assistance o£ the Court was sought to .fix.the rental of a leasehold section at "the corner of Lambton Quay and Waring Taylor Street, a vicinity that will be'vastly improved, it was stated, by the completion of the new railway station and the erection of the Government building on the corner of Stout Street and Ballance Street. Mr. Justice Smith was on the bench. The lessor, of the section is the Wellington, City Corporation, and the lessee the . Post and Telegraph Employees' Association. At the proceedings today the City Solicitor (Mr. J. O'Shea>~appeared- for the Corporation, •■ witftliim being Mr, J. R. Marshall. Mr. C. A. L. Treadwell, with him Mr. H. >J. V. James, represented the lessee. Mr. O'Shea said the Chief Justice :j,(.Sir Michael Myers) had held that the I:Court had po#er*tp deal with the mat- ■ Her, so the question of jurisdiction i'Wpuld- not arisev The'lease wasdated '.Nbv?robexi;:^3,jl9l l 4, and extended from !;SeptemlSer; 1ti1914, to; August 31,. 1935, i^ltK-''the.Tight,of renewal, with: the '-that the* rental was to be ' fljied ■is; ground rental only. '■ .ThCT? had been certain disputes bei'tweeh'S,Jhe ' "parties, continued Mr. . OlShea,X but relations were perfectly ' satisfactory at present; it had been decided ta seek the assistance of the ::'Courlr-tp" ft* the rental. His submis- ; swn-waititKaitLthere were three methods :rtp">l)!B'.employed in fixing the rental: i;:(l y );-ilo':;tske three ground rentals that "Hid-ijeeji "paid in the neighbourhood; ]'(£>9iti take the rental and sales of '■ Vtfter*leasehold lands, and to take the J'SJiiiss l '.''b£ 'freehold lands in the neighJ.Dournbod and apply some percentage . to fix the rental; and (3) to compare " ;a proposed building with other exist- ■ ing- buildings and their:-rents in the !'neighborhood. \iC-::'^ji^ip APPRECIATING. • :!:-:Thft'tiiuf£gse:-.of..^considering- tliose j; various. Triatfers was- to ascertain the !; earning capacity of land in the busiiriess area, of Wellington in or adjacent |;to Lambton' Quay, continued Mr. ■O'Shea. The section concerned was ■ on the corner of Waring Taylor Street j-and Lambton QuayC It got traffic i'from The Terrace and from the railJiway station"'along Stout Street and iiMaginnily Street,; and the new Gov\l eminent building, to be erected in Stout j; Street involving the demolition of ; Butterworth's Building,' would improve Pthe section as a business centre.. It : would be one of the most valuable : sites in Wellington owing to the de- , velopment that must arise in connec- ;■ lion with the new railway station and i Government buildings. j1: Asking the Court to consider first p the ~value of the land as -land, Mr. s'O'Shea said the area >vas 18.11? perches, Vwith a frontage of'^approximately 40ft ■' to Lambton Quay arid ah average depth %ot 69ft Jin. :'..■:":• \.;■/■:■'■.-• ; The value of the land, according to witnesses, was; £387 a foot in the ordinary way, and anything up to £400 a .foot could be obtained for it, as freefhold, in the open market. 'The value

l.pt £387 a foot was arrived at by the !;City Valuer by reference to tables, ['taking the section as a corner site and ~a depth of 100 ft to each foot of ; . frontage. " j, CITY VALUER'S EVIDENCE. i Mr. F. N. Martin, City Valuer since ' November, J927, and for twenty-six {years before that Government Valuer " in Wellington, said that the site was directly opposite the pedestrian access ■jfrom one of the main residential areas l^and within a hundred yards of the ; new Government building in Stout [Street, which would accommodate a p'staff of at least 2400.

2 The lease/of the section expired on August 31, 1935, and the value of the land then was £15,478. That value was ; arrived at by taking a unit of value on Lambton Quay in that division, for ', an inside lot, of £300 a foot, and a unit of value in Waring Taylor Street •of £130 aifdoi: ,"■'..

: Mr. Martin said he based the rental 'sat £582, whlcjb;;was':^qual to a rental :;of £14 llsij^^otj-pn the Lambton ';Quay fronta|&iiK*>;- ---'• Discussing tti&values of freehold and land, Mr. Martin said that ria freehold block on the corner of j.Featherstbn and Johnston. Streets, hay- ■ ing a frontage of 55ft 3in to Feathex*si ton Street •and;96ft to Johnston Street, i^was sold in, March, 1935, for £24,500. ',' which was.eqijal to £443.43. a foot. ■■JSince the rental-of the Post and Telek'raph block~nad-been assessed by the Iwitness at £582 a year;; -a section on >the corner of Lambton Quay and -Tokio Lane had been bought in November 'last for £9250, or £345.8 a foot. '

'■ Rental and building figures were "then dealt with by Mr. Martin, who !said that Featherston Chambers, a lour-storeyed building on the corner of Brandon Street and Featherston ' Street, was erected in 1933 at an overjail cost of £16,000. The Government valuation of Invicta House, on the corner of Featherston 'and Johnston Streets, together with •the land, was £33,000, .The total ren-i kals were ,£36Boj:a year; the ground Srent was: £476 a year, and the rates *£311 10s,; leaving a return of £2893 a year, which was equal to 10.9 per cent. on buildings costing £26,472. ■ ■: - ■ (Proceeding.) ■■•■■■■