WELLINGTON LAND VALUES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLVIII, Issue 14721, 1 July 1911, Page 10

WELLINGTON LAND VALUES.

PRICES PAST AND PRESENT. Tub Wellington Supreme Court recently awarded tho owners of a section of land in Willis-street the sum of £1260 compensation for the loss of a 10ft strip off a section having a" frontage- of 29ft 6in, which is at the rate of nearly £43 per foot, for land with a depth of only 10ft. How time rings the changes (says the Dominion) Turning to an old Government Gazette (Wellington province) dated February 16, 1863, thero in a notice proclaiming the sale by auction of certain freehold lands in tho city of Wellington. What is of particular interest, in view of tho recent compensation case, is the upset prices of city lands in those days. For instance, sections fronting Lamb ton , Quay, on the new reclaimed land, are set down an, valued at £12 per foot, and two 6£Ctiotls, having ' frontages to Harbourstreet of 35ft and 40ft respectively, were offered at tho upset price of £4 and Lb C Notice is also given ill tlio same Gazette Notice is also given in tho same Gazette of a sale of Wellington lands to be held on February 25, 1863, when ouite a lot of what is now Central Wellington was offered for sale— sections in all, ranging from 20ft to 95ft frontage, and prices were slightly more equitable than appears in the "first- instance. Here, however, were valuable corner sections, which are now occupied by impressive structures, the ground n>nt from which would mean a considerable foi'lune to peopl'i of moderate, aspirations. or instance, a section with a 40ft frontage to Customhouse Quay and 65ft frontage to Grey-street (now. occupied by the Pier Hotel), was offered for sale at £30 per foot on the Customhouse Quay frontage (£1200). A 40ft section on the corner of Customhouse Quay and Hunter-street (the site of . the A.M.P. building), was offered for £26 5s per foot (£1050)' ■ Sections in Grey-street, with a depth of 100 ft. were offered at £17 pel foot, and in Hunter-street at from £10 to £15 per foot. The history of Wellington is the history of arty other city in the Dominion in this regard, and it must not be omitted from consideration that the sovereign of to-day has hardly the same value its it, had 50 years ago, still the comparison is interesting.