Hotel proposed for troubled Metropolis tower

Media Release
24th July 2009

Independent luxury hotel proposed for troubled Metropolis tower

Amid speculation of a second bid by Millennium and Copthorne Hotel Group to run the 350 unit luxury tower, a private equity company has unveiled its proposal for an independent full-service luxury hotel.

“NicholsonCapital have been in talks with the Body Corporate for some time now and we have put a huge amount of work in to this project since Millennium left almost a year ago” said Daniel Nicholson, managing director of NicholsonCapital.

The company plans to establish an independent five-star hotel operation in the $200 million Auckland landmark which they will rebrand as Hotel Grand Metropolis. The proposal includes plans for the reopening of the bar and restaurant areas, along with extensive refurbishment of the buildings’ interiors.

As part of the refurbishment proposal NicholsonCapital will offer unit owners the opportunity to have their apartments refurbished at a concessionary rate under a bulk contract being negotiated with Scope Projects, “The building is almost ten years old and even though it was completed to a luxury standard, things like the paint, carpets and furnishings need to be updated for us to truly claim a five-star standard,” says Nicholson.

The refurbishment plans hold strict guidelines to stay in-keeping with the fundamental design elements that are unique to Metropolis, the same styles and colour palettes will be used throughout and the common areas will be for the most part “freshened up” as apposed to redesigned.

NicholsonCapital has growing support from residents and key stakeholders. Howard Properties, which own a large portion of the old magistrates court, are in full support of the independent Hotel Grand Metropolis proposal “Like myself, these people are passionate about this property and we have worked hard in developing a unique strategy that will see this place turned around to become the world-class luxury hotel that it was designed to be,” says Nicholson.

“We know there is another option on the table from Millennium, but what we are offering is a lot more comprehensive and is unique to Metropolis’ situation.

“Our proposal focuses on the success of the building as a whole, including the key hotel operation and all of the retail and commercial aspects of the property."

Millennium managed the property following the departure of Singapore based Ascott Group last year but abandoned it after only three months as the operation became “uneconomical”, failing to secure a viable pool of hotel units.

The 38-level complex was built in 1999 by Krukziener Properties and is the third tallest structure in New Zealand. It includes 350 luxury suites and a range of penthouses of up to 500sqm, with panoramic views that are often described as some of the best in Auckland. The property ran in to controversy in 2001 when Krukziener defaulted on payments to over 1700 bondholders with mum-and-dad investors losing millions.

ENDS

© Scoop Media