‘Cursed’ Mount Eden church turned into luxury apartments

- Four luxury apartments in Auckland’s St James Presbyterian church hit the market

- Developer restored the historic church, preserving its heritage features

- Mount Eden church had been beset by squatters and fire damage over the years

After 12 years of troubles, the St James Presbyterian Church in Auckland’s Mount Eden has finally got some good news as four multi-million-dollar luxury apartments built in the historic shell hit the market.

The church and the Sunday school building next door have hit the headlines over problems since 2012 – first, it was deemed unsafe, then squatters moved in, and, finally, an arsonist destroyed the Sunday school building.

Developers trying to turn the Heritage B-listed property around have come and gone, but hope is now on the table.

This week luxury real estate agent Michael Boulgaris has begun what he calls a “soft launch” of the three-bedroom apartments at 31 Esplanade Road, now called Esplanade Heights. Priced at $3.85 million each, the apartments have retained many of the heritage features of the original church in a modern, three-floor loft-style fit-out.

The agent said that despite the expense of carefully bringing the historic church back to life, these apartments were much cheaper than those in similar upscale new developments in the double grammar zone neighbourhood.

“There’ll be no profit in it. So that’s to the buyers’ advantage that the developer took on such a huge project with love and passion,” Boulgaris told OneRoof.

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“They are unique, there’s nothing like this. Mount Eden is so central, it’s a key location and this is a statement for the suburb.”

With the structural work completed, and finishing work underway on painting, tiling, kitchens, and bathrooms, the homes will be ready to move into in February.

The triple-brick church, was designed by Robert Watt and John Mitchell and built in 1900 in the Romanesque Revival style. It sat next to the even older Sunday school hall, built in 1885 as the original church. After the property’s owners, the Pacific Islanders’ Presbyterian Church, could not keep up repairs on the deteriorating hall, Auckland Council slapped a dangerous-building notice on it in 2012 and it was closed and fenced to keep people out. Much to the ire of neighbours, it became a home for squatters, vandals and pigeons before it was destroyed in an arsonist attack at the end of 2018 and its remains were demolished.

Arsonists set fire to the St James Presbyterian church hall on the corner of View Road and Esplanade Road, in Mt Eden, in December 2018. Photo / Brett Phibbs

Work is about to start building four upscale townhouses on the bare land where the church hall stood on Esplanade Road. Photo / Greg Bowker

At the time of the fire, the properties were owned by a developer, who had bought them in 2014 for $3.5m on the condition he could demolish the old hall. The request was in and out of council environment panels, but the developer did not settle on the deal. Five years later, the contract was cancelled. The site quickly re-sold but after only a year the new owners put it back on the market with resource consent to divide the church into four apartments, with the empty site billed as having development potential.

Finally at the end of 2020 developer Arthur Adams bought the property for an undisclosed sum. It had a CV of $5.2m.

“It was an opportunity that was presented to us by our lawyer. Temptation took over and we took up the challenge, not really knowing exactly what we were up for,” Adams told OneRoof.

“We hadn’t done anything of that nature in the past. I’ve been in construction and property development for about 40 years, so the learning curve has been quite steep.”

Neighbours are relieved the church has earned a new lease of life and the four apartments are finally hitting the market.

“I think everyone locally has just been glad to see it pulled back. It was largely occupied by a big flock of pigeons; they left quite a mess behind. There were a few homeless people living inside and it was in a very poor state,” Adams said.

In this artist’s impression, after meticulous renovation, including a new roof, earthquake strengthening and landscaping, the four apartments in the St James church are going on the market asking $3.8m each. Render / Supplied

The original stained glass windows have been retained in the renovation. Photo / Supplied

The developer said he and his team – Gel Architects and builder Jackson Wall of JW Build Group, as well as engineers – needed to protect the integrity of the original building. Even the rock walls around the perimeter were protected, along with interior features such as panelling, columns, and ceiling moldings. Internal steel beams now underpin the building to meet earthquake-strengthening requirements, creating lofted open-plan spaces in each of the three-bedroom, two-bathroom apartments. The property was re-roofed, and new landscaping and carports are about to go in.

“It’s very sensitive around the streetscape and what we’re putting back into the neighbourhood,” Adams said.

Inside, the four-apartment plan was tweaked to make the church windows more visible from each floor, and two of the homes retain their original stained glass windows. Any heart kauri flooring and structural timber that was removed in the remodeling have been milled and used for floors and stair treads. The apartments are between 207sqm and 231sqm in size and come with private yards and carports.

“The concept is the outside perimeter of the building is more respectful of heritage, and then the inside is more contemporary and modern,” Adams said.

For the vacant plot next door, the developer has plans to build two sets of duplex townhouses in January. He hopes these will be finished and on the market by the end of the year – a much faster build than the nearly two years spent on restoring the old church. Architects’ drawings show pitched roof homes in a modern style fitted on to the footprint of the old hall.

Adams said that while he’s built some 1500 homes in his career and is mid-way through building a 120-home lifestyle development in Kawakawa Bay, near Clevedon, Esplanade Heights was his most prestigious project.

“Hopefully everyone will be pleased with the outcome. We’ve made a little pictorial history of the project so people will have a nice little book for their coffee table.”

- Esplanade Heights, 31 Esplanade Road, Mount Eden is asking $3.85m per apartment