- Katrina Jenner and her family are auctioning their late father’s Mirage penthouse with a $1 reserve.
- The 232sqm leasehold apartment, valued at $1.53m, offers resort-style amenities and five carparks.
- Ray White agent Gabriela Galateanu says the low reserve shows the family’s motivation to sell quickly.
A family selling their late father’s multimillion-dollar penthouse could end up letting it go for as little as $1.
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Katrina Jenner told OneRoof that she had decided, together with her brother and her father’s wife, to take the two-bedroom apartment in the tightly-held Mirage complex on The Strand, in Parnell, to auction with an ultra-low reserve.
“It’s really unfortunate. We would really love to keep it, but it’s really complex when you are tidying up an estate, and we just haven’t been able to come to any other agreement other than to sell it,” she told OneRoof.
Her father Ian died at the end of 2023, and the leasehold property had been tenanted since.
The listing for the “beautiful home” at 905/88 The Strand went live at the end of last week, but the “really tough decision” to set the reserve at $1 was only made this week.
The penthouse has almost 360-degree views across the harbour and out to Rangitoto. Photo / Supplied
The outdoor swimming pool, tennis court, spa and sauna give the Mirage complex a resort-like vibe. Photo / Supplied
“We really agonised over it, but feel like it’s the right decision,” she said.
“It’s such a unique property and for so many the leasehold scares them, but it’s actually just a fantastic way of unlocking capital and being able to invest. We just feel like it’s a way of being able to appeal to all buyers, and we are just quite excited for the right buyer to come along and see the true value in it.”
She said her father and his wife had loved living in the 232sqm resort-like apartment, which has an RV of $1.53m. It gave them the freedom to travel and entertain, and they were hoping to find a new buyer who would love it as much as they did.
Jenner said it would be perfect for downsizers and small families who wanted to be “close to the action, but not right on top of the action”.
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“It’s honestly the most beautiful apartment you’ve ever seen,” she said.
“It’s definitely an entertainer’s paradise, and with the resort living, it would even appeal to someone with a child because they’ve got a swimming pool and a tennis court, and they are connected so close to the bays from here.”
Her father bought the house in 2020 after downsizing from a larger home. He bought a small apartment in Onehunga before he and his wife, Marlene, set their eyes on the Mirage penthouse.
“He was going to have a tiny shoebox of a house, and his thought was, ‘Why be in a tiny shoebox when I could be in this beautiful apartment and spend a cheaper amount of money, but have the lifestyle that I want?’.
“He loved entertaining and travelling and doing things, and this place really allowed him to live the life he wanted.”
A leasehold apartment in Beaumont Quarter recently sold for $25,000. Photo / Supplied
Ray White listing agent Gabriela Galateanu said the $1 reserve was a sign of just how motivated the vendors were to do a deal on auction day, which is set for February 26.
“They do need it sold ... They really can’t keep it or won’t keep it.”
She said the body corp fees and ground rent were $86,991.57 a year. Her listing pitches the apartment as a chance to “buy a true penthouse in Parnell without paying a multimillion-dollar freehold price tag”.
The apartment also comes with five carparks, including two in a lock-up garage, and, said Galateanu, has the best views in the building.
“It’s the top penthouse on the best side – the north-east corner. It’s absolutely spectacular. It’s got almost 360-degree views over the city, over Rangitoto.”
Residents also have access to a swimming pool, an indoor lap pool, a gym, a sauna and spa, plus a private garden with an outdoor BBQ area and tennis courts.
Tom Rawson, director of AT Realty South and Central, which includes Ray White Wynyard Quarter, said owner-occupiers were starting to return to the city centre, adding that leasehold apartments typically attracted people who wanted certainty of tenure.
“Their approach was that [buying a leasehold apartment] was better than renting, that it’s their own property, and won’t get booted out of it. Yes, you have to pay the body corp and all that other stuff, but it’s the same as or better than renting because you’ve got that upside of renting the property.”
While there are luxury leasehold apartments like the Mirage penthouse available, there are also smaller ones around the city with smaller price tags. A one-bedroom, one-bathroom apartment, which was one of only a handful of leasehold properties in the award-winning development Beaumont Quarter, sold last month for $25,000.
- 905/88 The Strand in Parnell, Auckland is going to auction on February 26
