- Barry Colman sold his Glendowie waterfront estate for $13.8m to a Southeast Asian family.
- The property met criteria under the Government’s Active Investor Plus scheme despite being coastal.
- Colman originally purchased the property in stages and embarked on a mammoth renovation.
Barry Colman, the former publisher of the NBR, got $13.8 million for his waterfront estate, OneRoof can reveal.
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The price of Colman’s 2449sqm spread on Riddell Road, in Auckland’s Glendowie, has been made public, a month after agents confirmed the sale to a golden-visa holder.
The property, which boasts a luxurious five-bedroom historic home, a heated indoor swimming pool, underground garaging, and a lift, met the criteria for the new foreign buyer rules even though it sits on coastal land.
The fact that a paper road runs through the property meant it could be bought under the Government’s Active Investor Plus scheme.
OneRoof understands it was bought by a family from Southeast Asia.
The property, which has an RV of just over $10m, was listed with New Zealand Sotheby’s International Realty agent Greg Dennerly, with colleague Pene Milne bringing the buyer.
Changes to the “golden visa” rules – which took effect from March 6 – allow foreign investors to buy or build a New Zealand home worth $5m or more.
Barry Colman and wife Kati in 2012. The couple have found a new owner for their Glendowie mansion. Photo / Norrie Montgomery
Colman’s late wife Cushla Martini combed demolition yards for lighting and fixtures for the house in the multi-year renovation. Photo / Supplied
The owner tapped experts from Disneyland to find suppliers for the pool’s under-water lighting system. Photo / Supplied
“There was interest by the party late last year, and once the AIP dates were confirmed, they could finally start buying,” Milne told OneRoof last month.
Colman declined to comment on the sale when OneRoof approached him last month.
The rich-lister bought his Glendowie landholding in two stages. The first chunk he bought in 1989, the second in 1998. All up it cost him $2.3m.
In a OneRoof article published in 2024, when the property first hit the market, Colman said he and his wife, Kati, had price “expectations around the $18m range”.
“It’s the first home on Auckland’s eastern shoreline to have direct access to the beach and able to be reached directly by road.”
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Colman, who sold the NBR in 2012, is no stranger to real estate, having made his first fortune with the now-defunct Property Press magazine. He also made headlines in 2019 when he paid a then-record $9m for an architect-designed house in Oneroa, on Waiheke Island.
When Colman and his late wife, Cushla Martini, bought the house in 1988, they embarked on a multi-year renovation that Colman remembered “nearly sent her bats”.
“I overheard some of the full and frank discussions that took place when she rolled up her sleeves,” he told OneRoof. “I was glad my only role was to write the cheques.”
The lawn leads down to the beach. Photo / Supplied
The interiors were recently updated. Photo / Supplied
The large living room has sea views. Photo / Supplied
The rebuild respected the bones of the traditional house with its wide verandahs.
But modern updates included finding extra parking space for car-fan Colman: the garaging for seven cars is now dug into the hill behind the main house. Martini, who died in 2005, searched the world for experts who could execute her plan for underwater lights on the floor of the swimming pool under the glass conservatory (she eventually tapped Disneyland for their recommended supplier) and combed Dunedin demolition yards for antique fixtures and lighting.
Colman was surprised to find Kati was another “covert interior designer”. Together with designer Noelle Davies, she updated the decoration. “The work of compiling a project budget was a total waste of time, and I think the accountant was the only person who ever took it seriously – well, at the beginning anyway,” Colman quipped.
“I’m not sure how much was spent in the end, but I know the next owners will inherit a beautiful, comfortable home with the sea lapping on the virtually private beach outside.”
