RSA building's buyer will remember them

In a nod to the past and with a view to the future, the former RSA building in central Christchurch has been converted into an upmarket office building.

Wanting to acknowledge the RSA, building owner Amherst Properties has retained six of the exterior plinths that commemorate World War I battles and is having a poppy mural painted on the side of the complex, Director Lindsay O’Donnell says.

The financially troubled RSA was forced to sell its central Christchurch headquarters at 74 Armagh Street last year to pay off its debts. The building was opened in 2015 and featured a bar, restaurant, and function centre.

“It was important to us to respect the RSA, so we worked hard to retain as many plinths as we could and we’re currently talking with a street artist to help us with the poppy mural on the side of the building,” O’Donnell says.

Three of the plinths are remaining on the office site, while another three have been shifted to an adjacent area that will provide car parking and landscaping.

“We’ve also retained two engravings on the exterior – one at the front which has ‘RSA’ engraved into the marble and ‘We Will Remember Them’ on the western wall.”

O’Donnell says it’s taken considerable effort to deconstruct the building’s interior because it was designed for the RSA with a heavy focus on hospitality.

Master leasing agent Brynn Burrows of Colliers Christchurch says this is a rare opportunity to occupy an entire building in the sought-after West End, home to professional services and corporates.

“CBD office space is at a premium in Christchurch. A Colliers survey showed that there’s only 9.7 per cent vacancy in CBD office space – the lowest figure recorded since Colliers began surveying the market in 1993,” Burrows says.

“Amherst is well-versed in producing high-end buildings that have something unique about them. They understand what tenants want and, with that in mind, have completely stripped out and refurbished the building.”

This includes cutting large windows down the side of the building to maximise natural light and buying two small neighbouring properties for on-site car parking.

“It’s a unique offering in Christchurch at the moment with the opportunity for one tenant to occupy all the space and have naming rights,” Burrows says.

The building comprises 1,014sq m over two levels; 486sq m on the ground and 528sq m on the first level.

Amherst Properties is no stranger to the RSA, having bought its Gloucester Street car park when it was being sold to fund the new building. The site now houses a low-rise office building where Amherst’s own office is located.

Amherst also developed the Anderson Lloyd building in Gloucester Street, the first new upmarket office block to be approved under the City Plan post-earthquake.

- Article supplied by Colliers