Rich-lister property developers John and Michael Chow are selling their multimillion-dollar mansion in Auckland’s Orakei.
The brothers, who are business partners of former Prime Minister Sir John Key and his son Max Key, had been looking for a buyer for their five-bedroom home at 5 Fenton Circus for more than a year before relisting it this week.
The resort-like property, which offers clear views of the harbour and Rangitoto, has an RV of $12.75m and last changed hands in 2012 for $6.65m.
The Chows, who own billion-dollar company Stonewood Group, first listed the home in March 2024, but pulled it from public view some months later, preferring to keep it as a quiet listing.
Start your property search
The agents told OneRoof at the time that the house had attracted interest from "mainland Chinese [buyers], but a lot of them still have money overseas, and there is still an issue of getting their money out [of China]”.
However, the changes to New Zealand foreign buyer rules in March this year may help the Chows attract high-net-worth investors from overseas.
John, left, and Michael Chow have grown their fortune in New Zealand through property development. Photo / Dean Purcell
5 Fenton Circus was designed by well-known architect Richard Priest. Photo / Supplied
The home boasts stunning views of Auckland harbour and Rangitoto. Photo / Supplied
The Chows have engaged Bayleys agents David Rainbow and Harry Cheng to sell the house this time around.
OneRoof reported last year that the property, which boasts four bathrooms, a games room, a media room, a gym, and a wine cellar, had become too big for the owners.
Rainbow said the property had been popular with Chinese-New Zealand buyers at the first weekend of open homes, with many recognising that around $10m for a property of this size and quality would be hard to match in a new build.
The land alone was worth between $5m and $7.5m. "Then to build a 1400sqm house in concrete, you'd be looking at $15,000 a square metre today, then there's the 24m heated pool. It's got all the bells and whistles.
Discover more:
- Bachelor NZ's pool party house for sale as spa queen swaps Auckland for Bali
- Terminal cancer diagnosis forces couple to sell their dream beach home
- Revealed: The 'accidental' homeowners propping up NZ's housing market
"If you've got particular requirements, houses like this don't come up that often."
Rainbow said some of those looking had been on the hunt for over a year. "They want to be 15 minutes from the city; you want to see your children in the swimming pool, great flow from indoors to outdoors. This house has all that, north facing, with a view," he said.
He said his clients were ready to sell: "Mentally they've moved. They have property out of Auckland, so they just don't need something as big in Auckland."
The concrete house was designed for developer Tony Gates and completed in 2009 by well-known architect Richard Priest, whose work appeared in Phil Spencer's New Zealand's Best Homes.
66 Paritai Drive, in Orakei, is for sale with an RV of $24m. Photo / Supplied
The listing of 5 Fenton Circus follows a handful of big sales in the wealthy neighbourhood. In February this year, tech entrepreneur Graeme Fraser bought an apartment on Karori Crescent for just under $12m after selling his Remuera estate for a record $43m.
And in June neighbouring mansions on Paritai Drive were snapped up by local buyers for $12.5m and $11.388m respectively.
The agent who brokered the June sales, New Zealand Sotheby's International Realty's Paul Sissons, has another Paritai Drive mansion up for grabs at No 66. The four-bedroom, 654sqm home, which sits on a 1755sqm section, has an RV of $24m, making it one of the priciest on the street.
Sissons, who is marketing the property with colleague Karen Moore, said the house was built for well-known developer Gary Lane in the late 1990s and wraps around a full-sized tennis court at the rear.
The Chow brothers have had a busy year. They opened the new Radisson Red Auckland, on Queen Street, in February and held a glitzy celebration for the launch of Aka, the restaurant and bar that sits atop the hotel.
- 5 Fenton Circus, Orakei, Auckland, is for sale by deadline private treaty, closing October 22
