'Lack of thought' delays sale of $190m of Auckland Council property

Wednesday, 18 April 2018

Can the Henderson building on the left be sold separately from the building on the right? Council officers have been told to find out.

Councillors 'sweated blood' to get their building built, but now it is one of seven on the chopping block.

The fate of the seven Auckland Council properties was to be considered at this week's finance and performance committee, but the agenda item was withdrawn to be 'fleshed out a bit', chairman Ross Clow said.

One of them up for the chop was the former Waitākere City Council buildings in Henderson, with a capital value of $57.7 million.

Waitākere councillor Penny Hulse said her and councillor Linda Cooper 'were very concerned about the lack of thought' given to the proposal to sell the Henderson buildings, and it was 'far too important to rush'.

* West Auckland's 'die-in-the-ditch' building on the chopping block**

Cooper said it needed to be worked out whether services like the airconditioning, electrics and wastewater pipes could be separated between the round-shaped former Waitākere City Council chambers and the large rectangular office building next door.

'It's in the millions of dollars to do, so we just want to see what the options are.'

Hulse said the chambers were not just a piece of property to West Auckland.

'It really isn't, and I don't think that's really understood. It's like watching the last bit of Waitākere slip away,' she said.

'We sweated blood to get that building built, and we took a huge amount of political criticism.

'We know why it is the shape it is, what the art means, what the meaning of the carpet is. It's like every bit of it, we poured our love into it.'

The council has proposed selling the seven properties as they were seen as surplus in a new strategy for its offices across the region.

The plan was to have the main council headquarters plus three hubs - one in the central business district, one in Albany or Westgate, and one in the south - within the next six years.

There would also be 25 spokes for staff across the region, 21 local board spaces, five new, and 23 customer service centres, seven new.

Some local boards were against the disposal of land, the agenda noted.

Papakura Local Board was concerned its building was gifted for civic use and had a 100-year time capsule on-site.

The sale would limit the future relocation of council services for a Papakura cultural civic heart, it said.

Hibiscus and Bays Local Board said it needed more financial information about the sale of its Orewa building, and that any replacement be in its area and fully discussed with it.

Henderson-Massey Local Board said it was concerned about extremely limited information with the sale of the Henderson buildings and a lack of consultation.

The seven properties up for sale, and their 2017 capital values, are:

* 4 Osterley Way, Manukau - $12.3m - a five-storey building that includes a customer service centre.

* 4-10 Mayoral Drive, Auckland - $28m - the Bledisloe Car Park.

* 35 Coles Cres, Papakura - $3.85m - a two-storey building that includes a customer service centre and the Papakura Local Board offices.

* 35 Graham St, Auckland - $52m - a four-storey office building.

* 50 Centreway Rd, Orewa - $28.8m - the buildings that includes a service centre and the Hibiscus and Bays Local Board offices.

* 6 Henderson Valley Rd, Henderson - $57.7m - the former Waitākere City Council buildings and car park.

* 82 Manukau Rd, Pukekohe - $7.2m - a single/double story building that includes a customer service centre and the Franklin Local Board.