A penthouse apartment on Auckland’s Remuera Road that sold last week set the year’s record price for apartments.
Bayleys agent Gary Wallace, who marketed the eighth-floor apartment with a jaw-dropping 12-car garage, said that while he could not disclose the exact price, it was for more than $10 million.
“It is one of the top four prices for an apartment in New Zealand,” Wallace told OneRoof.
“We’re really thrilled about that.
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“We’re finding in this market that luxury property is taking a little longer to sell. But then when buyers find something they like, they put their hands up.”
Wallace said the buyers, Remuera locals downsizing from a big family home, were not looking when the property was first put on the market back in April this year.
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“We’d been saying this had the feeling of home, with the freedom of an apartment. The buyers thought it was just outstanding, and when they saw the garage they thought ‘how often do you get this opportunity?’.”
The price is well short of the record settled sales price of $16.548m set in 2020 for the penthouse in Elm Remuera, on Orakei Road. A year ago, another apartment on Remuera Road fetched $12.771m at auction – a record auction price – while a waterfront apartment on Maunganui Road, in Mount Maunganui, sold at the end of 2021 for $10.2m.
While the apartment, bought off-the-plans in 2014 for $6.736m, has a bedroom count of three, that belies the enormous size of the two-storey apartment. At 340sqm it is bigger than the average Remuera house, Wallace said.
“It has everything you’d expect from a family home – a study, media room, great living areas and three ensuited bedrooms – and to top it off the views are second to none. I think they’re the best in New Zealand."
The garage was customised for the late car dealer owner’s large vehicle collection. Photo / Supplied
The penthouse living room has sweeping views of Auckland. Photo / Supplied
The bedrooms are on the top floor, the living is on the floor below that includes a chef’s kitchen, scullery and wine cellar, and a covered loggia for outdoor living.
The home was customised for one of New Zealand’s top car dealers, who died shortly after moving into the apartment with his wife. During the build phase he worked with the developer to design the apartment, merging two apartments, and customising the garage for his car collection.
It doesn’t have to be used as a garage, though. With a temperate underground climate, Wallace said it could be a fabulous wine cellar or the ultimate man-cave. He added the new buyers were not car collectors but did not know their plans for the huge space.
“You could put a billiard table in there, you could have a golf driving range, you could do whatever you want with it.”
The apartment boasts an impressive media room. Photo / Supplied
The owner earlier told OneRoof: “My husband was in the car industry and when the building was being built, I remember the developer ringing him and saying, ‘Well if we just dig out a bit further, we could make it bigger!’.”
Walls of floor-to-ceiling glass envelop both levels to maximise the uninterrupted north-facing views of Remuera, Orakei Basin, Rangitoto, the city skyline, the North Shore and harbour.
The master suite takes up half of the upper floor. It has a dressing room, a luxury spa-style ensuite with freestanding bath, and a private balcony.
“We have a private lift that goes between the two floors, for suitcases and if you need to bring anything heavy downstairs. Or, if you weren’t able to negotiate the stairs at any stage, you could put a wheelchair in there,” the owner said.
Wallace added: “With this particular property you’ve got the luxury of going in your lift and going straight to your private garage and there they are, you decide which one you’re going to drive today.”
- Click here to find more properties for sale in Remuera
- Additional reporting Amy Houlihan, Catherine Masters
