Warner Bros Discovery is gearing up to sell four new homes built for The Block NZ. But these homes won’t appear on TV screens and will possibly lose the company money.
The first completed townhouse at 850 Beach Road, in Auckland’s Browns Bay, will hit the market next week for auction on November 28. The remaining three properties, which the TV company is working to complete, are set for sale in December.
The townhouses are a hangover from Warner Bros Discovery’s decision to delay the 2023 season of The Block NZ, and ultimately can the whole show.
Warner Bros Discovery, the parent company of TV Three, bought 850 Beach Road in April 2022 for $6.25 million, and while it never officially commissioned an 11th season of The Block NZ, it allowed construction work on the site to continue.
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In May this year, the company confirmed it had cancelled the show, as part of a cost-cutting exercise that also resulted in the closure of Three’s news division, Newshub, and the loss of hundreds of jobs.
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Mike Molloy, co-managing director of the company’s production offshoot, Warner Bros International Television Production Aotearoa NZ, told OneRoof this week it was unlikely the show would be revived anytime soon.
“That’s a Warner Brothers Discovery decision, we operate at arm’s length and they’ve made the decision. There will be no Block in 2025,” he said, adding that the window of opportunity for a Block NZ show in 2026 may have passed.
“You could get it turned around in 18 months, but you really need at least two years. It takes time to do stuff in New Zealand,” he said, referring to the process of purchasing land and building the house shells.
The townhouse has an open-plan kitchen, with a scullery, dining and living room. Photo / Supplied
The outdoor living consists of a deck and planting, without The Block NZ luxury outdoor entertaining flourishes. Photo / Supplied
Molloy declined to say how much it had cost to complete the townhouses, nor what they might sell for.
“I’m not going to go into that. Let’s say it was expensive. We bought the site at the height of the market, that was what the market was at the time,” he said.
“[Everything is] fully paid for and there’s no talent doing work inside. None of that’s happening, it’s all done by the pros,” he said.
Unlike the TV show, where each house had its own building crew, which worked at speed over 13 weeks of filming, the houses at Browns Bay had only one building crew between them. “It’s been a long process,” Molloy said, adding that the homes were well-built.
The upper floors have views across the suburb to the water. Photo / Supplied
The bathroom has been completed to a high standard. Photo / Supplied
The production company’s co-managing director, Emma White, and its head of commercial development and relationships, Farah Jacobs, worked with designer Jenny Harris from Design Front to finish the interiors.
“We had a lot of the same suppliers. Obviously, it’s not contra - it was all paid for, but we knew them,” said Molloy.
With no TV show to help raise their profile, the houses will have to rely on traditional marketing methods.
The two-storey brick and Colorsteel townhouse which goes live next week lacks the typical flourishes that The Block NZ judges encouraged and viewers loved. There are no standout colours or feature walls, with the interiors very much in sync with the rest of the new-build market.
The Block’s producers bought the Browns Bay site in 2022 for $6.25m. The cost included the removal of the existing property and the construction of four townhouses to a shell state. Photo / Supplied
The cast of The Block NZ 2022. The show has now been axed. Photo / Warner Bros Discovery
Ray White agent Tim Hawes, who is marketing the property with colleague Shane Coote, told OneRoof there would be no mention of the show in the marketing. “It’s a tricky balance. We can’t mention The Block because of licensing reasons,” he said.
He could not say what the property would sell for, but did see the value “north of $1m”.
“No one’s going to care what [Warner Bros Discovery] paid. The market will determine what it is worth. It’s irrelevant what someone bought it for.”
Hawes said that he would be highlighting the quality of the house, its views and its location. “It’s a cool family home or for downsizers,” he said.
