Empty building owner confident of tenants

Monday, 27 January 2025

An impression of the reopened former IRD building in central Christchurch, which was once owned by the Crown.

It was Christchurch’s biggest office building when it went up in 2007, and has sat vacant since the earthquakes.

The owner of the former IRD building on the corner of Cashel and Madras Streets is now confident new occupants will soon be moving in.

Property investor and developer Lichfield Holdings bought the building 18 months ago from Huadu International, after Huadu dropped plans to redevelop it as a training and research medical facility specialising in dementia.

How the ground floor of the former IRD building is expected to look.

The building has now been repaired and strengthened up to 100% of code, work that has been signed off by the city council.

Lichfield Holdings’ director Nick Hunt said he is starting to do deals with tenants.

“Now we have people wanting to come in. The first fit-outs should be done within four or five months. There will be tenants in this year.”

The design for the building has between three and five tenancies on the ground floor, to be used as shops or hospitality outlets.

The seven office floors above have a total of about 14,000m2 of floorspace, accessible by five lifts and two stairwells.

The building pictured in 2014, after being bought by the Crown.

Some of the floors are linked by internal stairways.

The building is across the road from the city’s One New Zealand stadium due to open in 2026.

It also neighbours large numbers of new apartments and townhouses, homes built since the quakes in the east frame area designated for new housing.

Artist's impressions of offices in the building, which has some floors linked by internal stairways.

In 2011 the then three-year-old building suffered significant damage in the earthquakes and tenant IRD (Inland Revenue Department) moved out.

By 2012 owner Simon Henry wanted to demolish it but changed his plans. In 2013 the Crown bought the property from Henry, along with the Cashel Chambers building next door, for $32 million as part of the Government’s east frame project.

The Crown wanted the building used to provide amenities to the east frame and surrounding areas or otherwise help the central city.

In 2017 the building was listed in the city council’s “Dirty 30” list as barriers to the rebuild.

The same year Auckland developer Patrick Fontein was chosen by the Crown as its preferred buyer. Fontein proposed converting the building as a private-public project into an education, research and technology transfer hub called The Lighthouse, but the plan ran aground.

The Crown then sold the property to Huadu, headed by businessman Jianping Wang, in 2020. He sold to Hunt in late 2023.

Lichfield Holdings is also the owner of the $140 million BNZ Centre in central Christchurch, which it developed for government departments and other office and retail tenants in 2016.