- Real estate agent Peter Coker transformed a dilapidated Auckland motel into the themed Kohimarama Lodge.
- The renovation took 11 years, with each unit uniquely designed using Coker’s art and collections.
- The lodge generates $500,000 annually in gross income.
A real estate agent’s remarkable transformation of a tired Auckland motel has likely saved the building from an uncertain fate.
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Ray White real estate agent Peter Coker, who dreamed of becoming an artist, has transformed one of the city’s saddest 1960s motels into unique-themed accommodation now called the Kohimarama Lodge, and listed for sale.
Coker, who used to walk past the tired old Florida Motel at 11 Speight Road on his way to work, hatched a plan in the early 2010s to buy the motel.
The nine-bedroom, nine-bathroom motel, including the manager’s quarters, was constructed in 1963 by English immigrant Joe Bosanquet, who was also behind the nearby Miami Motel and an apartment block over the road.
Real estate agent Peter Coker and his wife, Sheryl, poured their hearts and souls into the renovation of the tired motel. Photo / Supplied
Each unit has a different theme, and is a showcase for Coker's passion for art and design. Photo / Supplied
The once-thriving motel had seen better days when Coker first saw it. “I thought it was looking more dilapidated and needed to be saved,” he told OneRoof.
The owner turned down Coker’s offer to buy the motel more than once but finally relented in 2013 and handed the keys over to Coker and his wife, Sheryl. “It was quite run-down,” the agent told OneRoof. “Much more than I anticipated. All the furniture and everything, most of it was broken. [The former owner] charged us 50 grand for the chattels, but they were really worth about $2000.”
The Cokers’ plan to turn each motel unit into themed accommodation was completed one room at a time. They rented out the units to long-term tenants, and as the tenants vacated, the couple would take over the space and bring it to life, taking between nine and 18 months for each renovation.
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“I started with the Kiwi Bach. Then I just worked my way along,” Coker said.
The agent used his passion for art, collecting and good old-fashioned op shopping to create eye-popping rooms. He did most of the design and renovation work himself and created the tropical gardens that surround the units.
The entire renovation took 11 years. “I was ill in the middle of it all,” Coker said. “I was in and out of hospital for a year, which slowed us down. I was out of real estate as well, so we didn’t have a lot of money floating around. But the rents kept us going.”
Coker dressed the rooms with items he found on holiday or in op shops. Photo / Supplied
He says the rooms have been booked out since the motel went fully live. Photo / Supplied
As each unit was finished, the Cokers would add it to the Kohimarama Lodge website, and visitors materialised, often relatives of locals visiting for weddings and funerals. One regular guest is a well-known New Zealand actor, Coker said.
“Around November of last year, I completed the last one, which was The Elvis. For the first time in probably 15 years, all the units are operable, although one of them I have not renovated, but it’s been rented the whole time. People were coming for three weeks and stayed for three years.”
The listing on OneRoof includes the manager’s quarters and eight units, as well as chattels. The Cokers paid $700,000 for the leasehold property and are hoping to get more than $1.2 million for it when it goes to auction on June 4. The RV for the property is $4.55m.
The renovation project took 11 years to complete. Photo / Supplied
The Cokers were offered the opportunity to buy the leasehold earlier this year, but the couple couldn’t afford it. “The owners might offer it again to the new buyer, possibly,” Coker said. “They said they probably will, but I don’t know when.”
Financially, the property worked better as a leasehold, Coker said. “If you’re going to open a cafe or hairdressing salon, you wouldn’t rush around to try and buy the building and the land before you started.”
He said the uniqueness of the lodge lay in its decor. “I buy all sorts of bits and pieces to go in the units. That’s usually what dictates the design because I might find something that works, and I work around that.
“We went to Vietnam, for example, and came back with paintings and other items. That’s what started the design of The Hanoi. I have a lot of Asian furniture anyway, so we were able to use quite a bit of that in there.” He said the couple had considered renaming the unit Shanghai Lil’s because many of the elements were Chinese, not Vietnamese.
The Hanoi is one of two, one-bedroom units. The Gatsby is another. There are five studios called The Kiwi, Captain’s Cabin, Elvis, Tropicana, and Pavilion. The studio units rent out for $225 a night and the one-bedrooms $255.
Coker said the buyer would get a ready-made business. “It should gross somebody about $500,000 a year in gross income, less expenses. They should net about $200,000 as an income after they pay the ground rent and the rates and the power and the water, and everything else. And they get to live here.”
Ray White listing agent Donna Watts said her favourite unit was The Elvis, because of its working jukebox.
- 11 Speight Road, Kohimarama, Auckland, goes to auction on June 4
