- International buyers are interested in the half-finished Seascape development, New Zealand's tallest residential tower.
- The $300 million project is being sold by Bayleys after the collapse of developer Shundi Customs.
- The tower, likely to be completed rather than demolished, has attracted global and domestic interest.
International buyers have expressed an interest in taking on New Zealand's tallest residential tower, says the agent tasked with selling it.
Start your property search
The half-finished Seascape development hit the market this week in what is likely to be the country's biggest and certainly most high-profile "as is where is" sale.
The $300m luxury tower and the 2729sqm city block it sits on are being offered to buyers following the collapse of Auckland property developer Shundi Customs.
Bayleys is selling 69-105 Customs Street East on behalf of receivers Calibre Partners.
The property comprises the Seascape tower; the heritage Britomart Hotel, known as the White Rabbit; and Ballantyne House.
The Seascape was designed to be New Zealand's tallest apartment tower, but work was halted in 2024. Photo / Jason Oxenham
Bayleys head of commercial property Ryan Johnson: "Someone will close it in, in terms of weather-tightness. Someone ultimately will finish it." Photo / Fiona Goodall
The sale of an entire city centre block was extremely rare for Auckland, especially one on the doorstep of the Britomart and Commercial Bay precincts, said Bayleys listing agent Ryan Johnson.
He said the agency had received interest from global hotel operators as well as some of New Zealand's best developers.
“You've got Australian, you've got Asian, you've got US, you've got debt funders who are very interested," he told OneRoof.
“You've got an incredible number of consultants that are acting on behalf of others. You've got AIP money that could look at it, so Active Investor Plus. As a development, it falls under the AIP guidelines, and with accommodation being one of the top sectors in the world in terms of commercial real estate at the moment, just because of the supply of residential, that's where the global capital has an interest in it.”
Discover more:
- Couple ditch dream build after buying legendary architect's Coromandel bach
- Serenity at NZ's wildest surf beach: Five Piha stunners up for grabs
- China's property slump pushes $13m St Heliers estate to 'urgent tender'
While the future of the Seascape had attracted a lot of attention and everyone had a view, Johnson said the tower was likely to be completed rather than demolished.
“Basically, someone will close it in, in terms of weather-tightness. Someone ultimately will finish it.
“In terms of structural integrity and what have you, there are no issues there. It's been monitored weekly by the council and the receivers.”
There had been publicity around some flaking paint, but “nothing structural, nothing falling down.”
Whether it remains as apartments, is converted into a hotel, or repurposed entirely remains to be seen, but Johnson expects Seascape will continue to serve as accommodation.
“The interest to date has been incredible, globally and domestically, around picking up the project and finishing it off.”
Johnson said an “incredible” amount of money had been spent on the structure to date, and there was a lot of value in that.
An artist's impression of what the finished tower is supposed to look like. Photo / Supplied
“I think there's been an incredible investment in the five-level basement, and the development of that relative to reclaimed land and water levels is one of its assets now.
“It's got one of the best basement car parking in the CBD, like five levels of basement car parking near the waterfront. That in itself is a structural feat so the amount of investment just in there, plus the structure, there's an incredible amount of inherent value that someone can pick up.”
The location was amazing and part of an area where most occupiers, both office and retail, were drifting, he said.
Midtown was having a renaissance with the City Rail Link, but a lot of activity and vibrancy was centred across the waterfront from Quay Park to Wynyard, he said, and more development was going to happen around Britomart.
Bayleys head of insights Chris Farhi said big freehold blocks in central Auckland were “rare like hen’s teeth".
“Definitely, as you go across the wider waterfront, it is either held up in certain parties that have large footprints, or you get into leasehold ownership," he told OneRoof.
“If you went back over the years, there have been opportunities typically out of Auckland Council’s portfolios - the Wynyard Quarter land holdings and then the likes of Downtown Car Park. Each had complexities, but I think to see an outright opportunity is unusual, particularly in that part of the city.”
Auckland mayor Wayne Brown told OneRoof that the city's success hinged on a thriving CBD, "and this development presents a huge opportunity for whoever takes it over".
"I've spoken with the team selling the site and will be visiting the site next week with one of our senior building inspectors. I’m hopeful they'll be able to attract a lot of interest."
Alexandra Bonham, chair of the Waitemata Local Board, said no one wanted a half-finished building in the city centre.
“If they find a buyer who is willing to finish this project and do something coherent at a block level, then that would be a great outcome because sitting empty is a really bad outcome and having to dismantle something on which so much resource has already gone would also be a real shame. I really hope that someone picks it up and does something really good with it.”
The Seascape was set to be New Zealand’s tallest residential tower at 187m, and launched at the same time as the neighbouring Pacifica apartment block in 2017.
Shundi Customs declared at the time that the tower would be completed by 2021, but the project went awry and was beset by delays and legal disputes.
The New Zealand Herald reported that the developer owed an estimated $588.8m to its creditors.
- 69-105 Customs Street East, Auckland Central, is for sale, deadline closing July 2
