The Wadestown Presbyterian Church building, which hasn’t been used since the church closed more than a year ago, is praying for a new owner to give it a second lease of life.
The property, which has two churches on it including one that dates back to the early 1900s, is inviting buyer enquiry over $1.599 million.
Tommy’s listing agent Alice O’Styke said the church trustees had given Presbyterian Central, which is the regional body of the Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa New Zealand in the lower North Island, the go-ahead to sell the property because it was now surplus to requirements.
The Wadestown Presbyterian Church held its last service in March last year and said the difficult decision had ultimately been made due to a lack of people resources and not because of money or dwindling membership.
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The church has had links to the Wadestown Road site since the late 1880s. The smaller grey wooden church was built in 1901 and later became the hall when it was joined by a much larger brick church with a high cathedral ceiling in 1958.
O’Styke said it could suit a range of buyers.
“It would be pretty amazing to make a type of conversion – like an apartment-style – that would be pretty amazing, but it’s a possible build site, redevelopment. There are lots of different possibilities – it will be very interesting to see who envisions what they can do with it for the next few years.”
The historic 540sqm buildings sit on a 859sqm site on the corner of Wadestown Road and Hanover Street directly across from a playground and Plunket room.
The small hall underwent earthquake re-strengthening in 2013 and was assessed as being at 100% of the new building standard, while the larger church building was assessed at 67% in 2016. They both have their own kitchens and bathrooms.
The larger church was built in 1958 and services were held there until March 2023. Photo / Supplied
O’Styke said Wadestown was popular with families and there were not a lot of new homes due to it being an older suburb.
Her listing added: “... the potential of this building knows no bounds, limited only by your imagination”.
She had sold churches before, but this was the first one that hadn’t already been transformed into a private residence.
However, the local community last year raised the idea of the church being used as a new location for the Wadestown Community Centre. Wellington City Council, in its proposed 20204 Long Term Plan, is proposing selling the existing community centre on Pitt Street due to its low usage, being on a steep hill, having no parking and poor accessibility and visibility.
Wellington’s Wharangi/Onslow-Western Ward councillor Diane Calvert told OneRoof that the community was “up in arms” about the council wanting to sell the community centre, which had an RV of $1.38m including a land value of $1.12m, without proper community consultation.
Calvert said one option could be that the council potentially look at selling the current community centre and buying the church if it was a good deal.
“Like any council, we don’t have a bottomless pit of money but looking at whether the funds that come from the sale of the community centre can be used for this,” she said.
The smaller grey church was built in 1901 and has been used as a hall. Photo / Supplied
Both buildings have their own kitchens and bathrooms. Photo / Supplied
“I know the community is very keen on if the current community centre can’t be retained and is sold then the money they get from the sale is put back in the community.”
The Wadestown church is just one of a raft of churches in both the capital city and across the country that are being sold off and repurposed.
Last year the heritage-protected St Gerard’s Church and Monastery, on Hawker Street in Mount Victoria, sold for just $4.65m – significantly less than its $17m RV. It is understood it will be transformed into a hotel.
In 2016, the St James Presbyterian Church, opposite Wellington Hospital on Adelaide Road, was converted into five luxury high-end apartments by award-winning architect Simon Novak, of Novak + Middleton Architects. Several of the apartments have resold since then including one sold by Lowe & Co last month with a currently undisclosed sales price.
A former school hall on Raroa Road, in Kelburn, that had been converted into a large residential home was sold by Tommy’s for $2.1m in May last year.
- 118 Wadestown Road, in Wadestown, Wellington, is looking for enquiries over $1.599m
