A popular dairy on one of New Zealand’s wealthiest streets is up for grabs at what could be a bargain price.
The Oriental Bay Store and the house behind it have been put on the market for sale with price expectations of around $3.5 million.
The dairy, which has been an integral part of Wellington’s retail history, is sandwiched between two high-rise buildings but offers some of the best views of the harbour.
The ground-floor shop at 252 Oriental Parade, formerly Newport’s Store, has been providing Wellingtonians goods since the late 19th century and has been known for serving up the best ice-cream in the capital.
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Above it is a four-bedroom flat, which the listing agent says is crying out for a savvy makeover that makes the most of its location, while sitting behind at 1 Baring Street is a colonial-style double-story weatherboard home split into two flats.
The properties have a combined RV of just over $7m but are being offered to buyers for less than half. “They’re now surplus to requirements and the owner has put them back on the market,” Tommy’s agent Phil Mears told OneRoof, noting that “RV doesn’t necessarily have any relevance to sales price”.
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He said the owner was selling the properties as a single lot, but would entertain selling them separately. “It makes sense whoever’s buying it to buy it as one piece of land.”
Mears said potential buyers might choose to build a top-end home on the site, which is zoned inner residential. There is a height restriction on the site of 28m, with Mitika Apartments next door standing seven stories high.
“It lends itself to potential development. It could be a single dwelling, or apartments,” he said.
“Someone might like to buy a particularly good site and build a fabulous top-end home on Oriental Bay. It’s a really great north-facing site to do something fabulous with it.”
Mears said the front building has been earthquake-strengthened and issued with a CCC for the work.
The dairy serves one of the wealthiest suburbs in the capital. Photo / Supplied
Above the dairy is a four-bedroom home with some of the best views in Wellington. Photo / Supplied
He said the properties could also be of interest to investors and land-bankers.
The dairy at 252 Oriental Parade has a long history dating back to at least 1890 when wholesalers Moore Wilson & Co opened a store on the site. The site was bought in the 1930s by the Newport family, who opened Newport’s Store.
Generations of Wellingtonians have bought ice-cream from the store, which was rated in 2021 by Urban List as one of the seven best ice-cream and gelato stores in the city.
In a press release in 2018, when the property was last on the market, Newport family member Sara Dockery said and her parents, Roger and Judith Newport, ran the dairy before the days of supermarkets, with locals phoning in their weekly order.
“Dad would deliver the shopping to their homes and unpack the goods on their kitchen bench if they were elderly,” she said.
“Everything was packed in paper bags, ham and bacon was sliced on the premises, and the best and freshest fruit and vegetables were sourced from the produce markets in Blair St.”
The house at 1 Baring Street is split into two separate residences. Photo / Supplied
Dockery said in 2018 her parents continued to live upstairs at 252 Oriental Parade even after they retired as dairy owners in 1990 and leased the ground floor to Jiten Patel, who ran the business as Oriental Bay Store. He also was well-loved by the community and ran the store for more than 30 years up until last year, shortly before his death.
The Newports bought the rear property at 1 Baring St in 1993, which they owned until selling to the current owner in 2018. The home is split into two flats.
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