- A fire-damaged state house in Greenlane was sold for an undisclosed sum as a development site.
- The Kāinga Ora property has an RV of $1.7m and was sold “as is, where is”.
- Housing agency is selling around 900 homes, stating each sale leads to a new build elsewhere.
A state house in a posh Auckland suburb has been snapped up for an undisclosed sum, after a fire left it uninhabitable.
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The gutted duplex, on Garland Road, in Auckland’s Greenlane, hit the market at the end of last month amid a mass sell-off of state homes in Auckland’s high-value suburbs.
The former Kāinga Ora rental property, which has an RV of $1.7 million, was sold “as is, where is”, with buyers not permitted to view the home or access the site while it was on the market.
The Garland Road duplex sits on a near-500sqm triangular site and shares a wall with a luxury home next door. Photo / Supplied
The property is surrounded by expensive and beautiful homes. Photo / Supplied
Bayleys agent Carolyn Ryan declined to comment on the sale, but she told OneRoof last month that she was pitching the property as a development site.
“It’s a duplex unit, but it’s been fire-damaged. A structural assessment concludes that it should be demolished,” she said.
“That does pave the way for the next owner to create and design their dream home from the ground up. It is a blank canvas.”
Ryan said she was taken aback by the extent of the damage, telling OneRoof she uttered “Oh dear” when she saw the property for the first time.
The house, which sits on a near-500sqm triangular site, is surrounded by security fencing and visibly bears the scars of a devastating fire.
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It also shares a wall with a luxury home that occupies the site next door. “There are actually two houses on the site next door, and the owners have utilised the existing duplex and then built their own home beside it,” Ryan said.
“The main house looks like a cathedral, with its vaulted ceilings and these beautiful glass windows, which take in the northerly aspect.”
She added: “Once you take your eyes off the site and look around, you find so many beautiful homes in that location on the neighbouring streets.
“I’m pretty sure everyone will be watching to see what happens. They’ll be relieved to see the fire-damaged house go.”
Kāinga Ora sold three neighbouring cottages on Amy Street, in Auckland’s Ellerslie, for an undisclosed sum this month. Photo / Supplied
The owner of the house next door, Colliers senior project manager Bruce Ramsay, told OneRoof last month he had been interested in buying the damaged home but the timing was not right.
“I believe I have the key to unlocking the potential. I would be interested in a joint venture with a developer,” he said.
Earlier this month Kāinga Ora sold three neighbouring cottages on Amy Street, in Auckland’s Ellerslie, for an undisclosed sum. Each of the houses had RVs of just over $2m.
Barfoot & Thompson agent Rawdon Christie declined to comment on the sale but had earlier told OneRoof a developer could build up to 17 townhouses on the combined 2475sqm site.
The Government’s housing agency is selling around 900 homes across the country. Its website states the homes represent about 1% of Kāinga Ora’s total portfolio: “Decisions to sell specific sites will be ongoing, and at any one time there will be properties at various stages of the process.
“It’s also important to note we are not reducing the number of Kāinga Ora homes. For each existing Kāinga Ora home sold, a newly built home is delivered elsewhere.”
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