A former power station converted into apartments on Auckland’s North Shore has sold after a phenomenal amount of interest, the listing agent told OneRoof.
Bayleys’ Helen Michell said there had been more than 200 viewings of the property, which is situated in the heart of the Devonport village.
“It’s huge – 10 times the average probably. A lot of it’s curiosity, of course, with a building like that,” she said.
The apartment, one of three in the building, sold under the asking price of $1.75 million, but she said the end price was not far off.
Start your property search
OneRoof records show the CV is $2m and that the apartment last sold in 1993 for $329,000.
Michell said the apartment sold to a family that was new to New Zealand. They had loved that the home was in such an unusual building and unique opportunity to buy in a great location.
The power station was built in 1914-1915 to provide the first public electricity on the North Shore.
Read more:
- Award-winning home that's surplus to requirements has $7.1m price tag
- Troubled apartments 'flying off the shelf' as cash buyers hit cheap end of town
- Australian expert: Kiwi buyers could be pushed out of Remuera
It later became a kitchen-depot to help the needy during the Great Depression then operated for decades as a laundry.
Back in the 1980s, two couples bought the station together and used different architects to convert it into three apartments, keeping two and selling one.
The apartment which has just sold is three levels at the front of the building and is listed as a Category 2 Historic Place with Heritage New Zealand.
The apartment interiors make the most of the exposed brickwork. Photo / Supplied
The property is reminiscent of New York-style loft apartments. Photo / Supplied
Michell said that’s not so unusual for Devonport, given the whole suburb has a heritage overlay, but the industrial vibe of the apartment was different to the usual older villas and bungalows in the area.
She said the apartments in the old power station are tightly held with this one on the market for the first time in nearly 20 years.
A family of yachties lived there, with daughter Claire O’Loughlin telling OneRoof in July her mother Bridget had fallen for the exposed brick and building’s backstory.
Claire and her sisters grew up on a yacht but after her father died unexpectedly they sailed back to New Zealand and after Bridget bought the apartment she led the charge to get the front exterior repainted as it was “quite a 1980s terracotta colour”.
The seller's daughter called it a "brilliant family home". Photo / Supplied
Michell does not expect any of the apartments to come on the market again any time soon.
“I don't see them coming up again for a while to be honest with you. The people who are there are very happy in there,” she said.
She marketed the property as having unique industrial chic featuring a high vaulted ceiling with big windows along with bare bricks and exposed beams in an iconic New York loft-style.
There was the potential to run a business from the ground floor or offer it as rental space, or subject to consent Airbnb accommodation.
“The property is totally out of the ordinary and so very versatile,” she wrote.
- Click here to find more properties for sale in Auckland
