Former Ashburton council building sold

Nicole Mathewson Reporter from The Press

By local democracy reporter Jonathan Leask:

The former Ashburton District Council building has been sold, but the details won’t be revealed until the settlement date in the New Year.

The sold sticker went up last week after the councillors decided to accept one of two offers they had received for the site during the public-excluded part of the council meeting.

That means how much it sold for and who the new owners are remain sealed.

Chief executive Hamish Riach said details of the sale were confidential at this time, though more information would be released after settlement.

“There were two offers, which were discussed by councillors in-committee, and they accepted one for the entire site.

“We expect the sale to be finalised in early 2025.”

The property comprises 5059sqm in four titles and the sale was handled by Property Brokers agent Hamish Niles.

The three-storey council building was built in 1974 with a basement and the ability to add a fourth storey but that was scuttled by the changes to the building standards following the Canterbury earthquakes.

Issues with the building were first signalled in 2004, and in 2015 it was decided to combine a replacement with a new library.

The sale of the old council building will offset the $62.1m build cost of the new library and civic centre, Te Whare Whakatere, which opened in January.

The project received $20m from the Government’s shovel-ready infrastructure programme.

Earlier this year the council sold the former public library building for $1.1m to CBR Properties Limited, which plans to renovate the building into a boutique hotel.

It also sold two relocatable buildings for $160,000.

The three older prefab classrooms at the former Polytech site on Cameron Street were being sold for $1 each, but the tenderers need to pay for the removal by March 14.

The tenders closed on November 13 and the council is working through the sale process.

*LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.