The Remuera Bridge Club is set to lose its home of more than 60 years after a “bombshell” sale and eviction notice.
Neil Stuckey, the co-chair of the joint Remuera Bridge and Bowling Club, told OneRoof that the new owner of the clubrooms on Remuera Road had informed members they have to be out by Christmas.
It is a tough twist for the club, which pocketed $16.5 million two years ago when they sold their high-profile site at 273 Remuera Road to developer Willis Bond, known for its award-winning residential projects.
Stuckey said members thought they would be able to stay at the premises while Willis Bond made plans for a new housing project.
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They were told at their 2024 meeting that Willis Bond would take the upper floor of the main building as a show-suite for their project from mid-2025, with the club allowed to carry on downstairs.
“The arrangement was really just a handshake, a gentleman’s agreement really,” Stuckey told OneRoof. “So, as it went on, we were fairly relaxed; we didn’t push as hard as we should have.”
The club sold the site two years ago for $16.5m, but the purchaser, Willis Bond, resold the property in August. Photo / Getty Images
In June this year, the club got “the bombshell” news from Willis Bond that the developer was not going ahead with its plans for the site and was instead selling it.
The listing on OneRoof described the 3521sqm corner site in double grammar zone as a “rare opportunity to create a high-end development at scale”.
Stuckey said: “We didn’t know whether it would sell at all, or it might be a long settlement date, or the new owner might decide that they’re going to pull it down, but they’ll take a year to do it.”
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However, a deal was reached in early August, and the club members were told they would be able to meet the new owner when he returned from overseas.
“[The owner] seemed to be very receptive and everything. He was keeping his cards very close to his chest. We were confident that we would be OK,” Stuckey recalled. A week after the meeting, the club was informed it had until the end of the year to vacate the site.
Stuckey understands that the new owner wants to make a Mahjong and games club for the Chinese New Zealand community. “They said that’s their plan, but I also understood that the long-term plan was to rebuild.”
The new owners plan to turn the Remuera Road corner site into a Mahjong games club. Photo / Supplied
The club had hoped to stay put until the joint clubrooms it is building with Remuera Bowling Club were finished at the end of 2027.
Now, club officials are scrambling to find short-term premises with the amenities and 40-50 car parks they need for elderly members.
Stuckey told OneRoof they had secured a site, but the drama would end up costing the club. “The biggest problem is that we are going to lose members because of it. They get used to something, and then you change it, and they drop out,” he said.
“We’re both asset rich and cash poor,” Stuckey said, explaining why the club had sold its home at 273 Remuera Road. It was crying out for a renovation, but the club’s 500-strong membership lacked the cash reserves to fund a makeover, or even basic repairs.
The windfall sale in 2024 provided enough funds for the club to build their share of the clubhouse on the bowling club’s new site on Market Road and leave plenty in the kitty for investment, he said.
Of the unexpected move, Stuckey said: “I’ll write [the members] a story and tell them, ‘stick with us’, we’ll end up on top.”
OneRoof asked the new owner of 273 Remuera Road for comment, via the listing agent for the property. The agent said confidentiality clauses prevented him from commenting on the sale price or the owner’s plans for the site.
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