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Media Release:
22.4.2013

Historic Church And Odd Fellows Headquarters
Goes On The Market For Sale

One of oldest surviving brick churches in New Zealand – now overlooking one of the busiest motorway junctions in the country – has been placed on the market for sale.

The former Wesleyan Chapel in Auckland’s Pitt Street was constructed in 1859/1860 on a prominent ridge-top location beside what were at the time dirt track roads leading into and out of the city.

Initially designed as a church in a distinctive Gothic revival style, the chapel quickly became the biggest Wesleyan school in England’s colonial empire – with more than 100 pupils attending from neighbouring suburbs along Karangahape Road, Newton Gully, and burgeoning Ponsonby. It is now recorded as the oldest surviving school within Auckland central.

The chapel closed some six years later when a bigger church was built a few metres down Pitt Street. Seven years later the building was purchased by the Methodist Church and over the ensuing decades was subsequently used as a meeting hall by the Star of Auckland Lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows (IOOF) American Order, and latterly by the Auckland branch of the Spiritualist Church of New Zealand.

The Independent Order of Odd Fellows sold the building in 1990. The property is currently owner/occupied by a boutique fashion design and manufacturing studio which is relocating to bigger premises in line with its growing export markets.

The 255 square metre building sits on 405 square metres of land overlooking the Hobson Street motorway onramps for both State Highway 1 southbound and State Highway 16 westbound. The grade 1 heritage-listed building is being marketed for sale at auction on April 24 by Bayleys Central Auckland through joint sales team Clint Barber and Katrina Riedel.

Mr Barber said the freehold standalone site had car parking for six vehicles, with prominent signage fronting Pitt Street and on the slanting roof of the building which is illuminated by spotlights at night. The dual signage profiles generated a combined revenue of $35,439 plus GST per annum – reflecting the high traffic exposure of the property.

“The refurbished character building remains virtually true to its original façade and interior layout as the former Wesleyan chapel – with large intricate arch framed windows, polished tongue and groove timber floors, red brick walls, and an exposed cathedral-style roof and beams,” Mr Barber said.

“It has the ambience of a chic warehouse-style open plan workspace which would suit the likes of a creative business. In addition to the open plan area in what would originally have been the nave, the building has a partitioned office, a lunchroom with kitchenette, and two bathroom amenities.

“There is the potential, subject to resource consent, to extend the existing billboard space considerably, which would of course increase any advertising revenue.”

The New Zealand Historic Places Trust lists 8 Pitt Street as: “Of special historical value for its connections with the development of early settler religion in Auckland. It also has considerable importance for its links with early colonial schooling. The former chapel is spiritually and socially significant as a place of education, worship and social gathering for 130 years.”

“It incorporates early colonial technology from a period when comparatively few buildings of similar type are known to survive - providing a special insight into the early development of settler religion.”

The commercial premises is accessed by the former church’s narthex, or lobby, a small brick-built structure in its original 1850s construction fronting onto Pitt Street at right angles to the main building.

Ms Riedel said the Pitt Street property was located within Auckland Council’s ‘Southern Strategic Management 4 Area’, which is described as having: “A particular architectural character and cultural identity. The wide variety of activities creates a vibrant atmosphere with commercial activities predominating during the daytime and entertainment facilities after dark. The area also benefits from the established linkages with the central city core.”

The council plan also noted: “There is an increasing trend to locate corporate offices and residential units in this area – while simultaneously encouraging the use of protected buildings while ensuring that their valued features were not impaired or destroyed.”

Ms Riedel said the council’s assessment of the area was a huge endorsement for a number of heritage listed properties in Pitt Street and its surrounds.

“These include the original Wesleyan Chapel, the Higher Thought Temple on the corner of Union Street and Wiremu Place, St James Church in Beresford Street, the Pitt Street Methodist Church, and the Naval and Family Hotel on the corner of Pitt Street and Karangahape Road,” she said.

“The council’s strategic plan for this vicinity also allows for the development of further high density residential dwellings. While balancing up the heritage protection bestowed on the former church structure, the plan could be interpreted to potentially see the building converted into a sizeable home or multiple flats, and the car parking yard transformed into private courtyard space.”

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Caption: One of New Zealand’s oldest surviving brick churches and first church-based schools dating back almost 150 years is now on the market for sale.

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ENDS

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