SOHO | Under Construction | 16 storeys | 50m

From the DomPost 1/3/2008 (not on Stuff.co.nz)

Buyers quick off mark in Soho project
Dominion Post, The; 01/03/2008, pC11

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Colin PATTERSON

COMMERCIAL PROPERTY

THREE streetfront shops in a massive Wellington apartment development have been sold before construction begins.

Auckland-based Conrad Properties obtained resource consent last September for Soho, a 326-unit development to be built on the site of the Williams and Adams Building on Taranaki St.

Now, three retail units fronting Taranaki St have been sold by Stephen Sutorius of CB Richard Ellis.

A 99-square-metre unit sold for $8000 a square metre. It was bought by an owner-occupier who intends fitting it out as a bar.

Two smaller units of 84 and 82 square metres were bought by investors.

"They were all snapped up really quickly," said Mr Sutorius. "There's no vacancy in the Courtenay Place-Taranaki St area. Retail rents have risen dramatically."

He said two other retail units were still on the market. They both had frontages to Egmont St and had a lower profile than those which had sold.

While the units were not expected to earn income till they open for trading in two-and-a-half years, Mr Sutorius said it was still a good arrangement for buyers.

"They don't settle for two-and- a-half years. That gives them time to find a tenant. There are no holding costs and they buy at today's prices."

Mr Sutorius said there had been huge interest in the project, which was the capital's biggest apartment development.

Conrad Properties New Zealand managing director Jamie Hutchens said Soho's apartments were nearly all sold.

Demolition of the existing building and the construction of the new one would start as soon as Wellington City Council issued building consents. "We hoped to have had the consents before now."

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CAPTION:

Big unit: Soho is Wellington's largest apartment development.

^^Excellent news. Especially considering this is slightly out of the way- despite whats been written in the article Taranaki Street is certainly not a retail avenue. Always a good sign when retail tenants jump on board before its completed. Nothing worse than a new build with ground floor street frontage looking vacant, dusty with those For Lease signs.

Really very good to see this area being transformed. A number of new mid-rise buildings adding people and vibrancy to an area that is already pretty buzzy. When I return to Wellington to live I'm thinking this is going to be the area for me. I will need to have a biggish balcony however, Soho fits the bill.

minimum chips said:

Really very good to see this area being transformed. A number of new mid-rise buildings adding people and vibrancy to an area that is already pretty buzzy. When I return to Wellington to live I'm thinking this is going to be the area for me. I will need to have a biggish balcony however, Soho fits the bill.

Click to expand...

And then there's the Metropol proposal, even if that's in Ghuznee rather than Taranaki. Still, those who'll live in Soho and Metropol can get their kicks at the Film Archive.

Now if someone can convert the Ford dealership across the road into a showroom and build on top of that, or move it out to somewhere like Kaiwharawhara - right now it's a horribly inefficient use of space. It worked for Tory Continental and the Portal Apartments on Cable St.

The demand for these new apartments in this area seems to be high. They havent gone crazy with new proposals yet everything that Ive seen looks to be of a high standard and selling well. I would fully expect that with time many of the eyesore blocks from Wakefield Street down to Massey Campus (including the Ford dealership on Taranaki Street) will be developed.

Does anybody know if there is a height limit in this area. I would like to see a stand out taller apartment building (say 100 metres) going up in this area.

minimum chips said:

The demand for these new apartments in this area seems to be high. They havent gone crazy with new proposals yet everything that Ive seen looks to be of a high standard and selling well. I would fully expect that with time many of the eyesore blocks from Wakefield Street down to Massey Campus (including the Ford dealership on Taranaki Street) will be developed.

Does anybody know if there is a height limit in this area. I would like to see a stand out taller apartment building (say 100 metres) going up in this area.

Click to expand...

There's a map of the central Welly area on the WCC website. The height limits displayed on the map aren't necessarily set in concrete.

It's started...

First construction pics of the Soho.

From Taranaki St:



From the rear in Egmont St.

Ph33r the power of wide angle...

Latest pics

Now you see it...





... now you don't.

The crane has gone up: