In the past seven days the Pacifica has broken several records. The 57-level apartment building in Auckland CBD officially became New Zealand’s tallest residential tower after developer Hengyi Pacific poured the final slab of concrete on the superstructure, bringing its final height to an impressive 178 metres.
Equally impressive have been the sales completed since the end of March. Gavin Lloyd, national director of residential projects for CBRE, says his agency has completed $16 million worth of apartment sales, including two penthouse suites.
At the same time, the “super penthouse” – a luxury apartment that occupies the 53rd and 54th floors at the top of the building and includes its very own butler’s kitchen and wine cellar – grabbed international headlines as New Zealand’s most expensive home.
Reports in Bloomberg and Business Insider put a $40 million price tag on the apartment being marketed by New Zealand Sotheby’s International Realty agents Jason Gaddes and Scarlett Wood. Should it sell at that price, the penthouse would eclipse the $39 million record set by a seven-bedroom mansion on Auckland’s Paritai Drive in 2013.
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Construction on the Pacifica broke ground in 2017. Since then developer Hengyi Pacific found that there was increased demand for the larger size apartments, so it tweaked the design and reduced the number of apartments it had originally planned to increase the floor-space in the remaining units.
Lloyd says the opening of the show apartment on Level 9 last week will give buyers and potential buyers a chance to see what the building offers, including its spectacular view of Auckland harbour.
“People have been eagerly waiting. It’s all dressed and ready to go. As with all open homes, there are safety restrictions in place, but for the first time people can experience the real thing, and see those harbour views,” he says.
Lloyd says Covid-19 hasn’t had a negative impact on buyer enquiry, with overseas interest in development surging during the lockdown period. “Ironically, the lockdown has been very good for us, with $16 million of high-profile sales, including two penthouse sales worth over $6 million each,” he says.
“We’re yet to find any other off-the-plan sales at such prices in Auckland.”
He adds: “We have also seen a significant uplift in inquiry from across Asia and the US, with buyers seeking a safe ‘bolt-hole’ investment.”
Lloyd says international buyers see property as a robust investment class in these times, and their interest in the Pacifica is partly a positive reaction to the way Covid-19 has been managed in New Zealand.
“It’s a combination of ex-pats wanting to return, or just invest back in New Zealand,” he says.
Lloyd says that the move to alert level 2 has allowed buyers who have finally settled on the sale of their family home to focus on their next step – just in time for the release of the final 38 apartments in the Pacifica. Luxury amenities include 24 hour valet parking, a yoga studio and gym, pool spa and sauna, community terrace, media room, library and residents’ lounge
Lloyd says he is pretty chuffed that most buyers have decided against changing apartment specs. "A lot of thought went into that - I think we got it right," he says.
“Where in Auckland do you get a brand new home with all the other things. It’s about the lifestyle experience and was conceived off the back of the great world-class apartments.
"There’s a tsunami of boomers who are selling up their houses. You can have the boat parked at Westhaven, lock up and leave."
He adds: “With a scheduled finishing date for the fourth quarter of 2020, we are set to give residents the best seat in the house for the 2021 America’s Cup challenge.”
CBRE have penthouses on the top five levels, all with two bedrooms, two carparks and two baths. In March one of the 235sqm penthouse apartments sold for $8 million, an amalgamation of two adjoining apartments.
Of the 1200 sq m super penthouse for sale on levels 53 and 54, Gaddes says his agency has had enquiries from the US and Europe.
Hengyi Pacific's New Zealand general manager, Elizabeth Scott, told Bloomberg earlier this month that the chaos Covid-19 was causing outside of New Zealand was likely to work in the Pacifica's favour. “New Zealand has become a consideration for some people,” she says. “Certainly, expats are looking back at New Zealand and saying, ‘Perhaps I should come back and bring my family.’”
She said the super penthouse was currently a “warm shell”, meaning the exterior was in place but that the interior was unfinished. “A warm shell provides the most flexibility in what a range of purchasers might hope to achieve,” she told Bloomberg. “They wouldn’t have to come in and try to redo something, which in itself can be quite wasteful.”
She said the cost of buying the penthouse in its "warm shell" state would be about $35 million.
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