Christchurch’s Little High Eatery sold but founders keep stake in new deal

The McKenzie & Willis heritage facade in Christchurch after the 2011 earthquake. Photo / Supplied

The facade that Peebles had advised to knock over is on the corner of High and Tuam streets. Its uniqueness comes from the angle of that intersection. Christchurch city is designed in a grid pattern with streets running north to south and east to west. Its symmetry is only really disrupted by the snaking Avon River and two deliberately diagonal streets – High and Victoria.

Given that grid design, most corner frontages are at right angles, but the McKenzie and Willis facade is far more obtuse – at around 135 degrees. Few buildings have a similar shape and certainly none that have stood for a century. All the more reason to save it.

The McKenzie & Willis facade as it looked through the 1980’s. Photo / Supplied

“So, I kept on pestering Richard and then all of a sudden, he rings me up and he goes, ‘I figured it out. I’ve got a plan. We can do it’,” says Willis.

Peebles interjects again.

“I reckon I agreed to do the project thinking I’d just convince him to knock down the wall at a later stage, but obviously that didn’t happen.”

‘What’s this Richard guy like?’

The wall was heritage listed, but in Peebles’ words, “You could’ve knocked down anything in those days”. If the first discussion was about feasibility, the second was financial.

“We were going 50/50, right?” Peebles asks Willis.

“Well, your intention was 50/50, and I was never in a position to go 50/50. That’s when I started speaking to these guys and saying, ‘Tell me what you think of this idea’,” says Willis.

“These guys” that Willis alludes to are Mike Percasky and Kris Inglis. They’d been listening to the story so far and added their own take to Willis’ narration. Percasky describes how he and Inglis had assumed that their good friend Willis was making a pitch for their investment – and they weren’t just keen, they were on the hook.

“And he goes, ‘Yeah, I just wanted your advice because my family’s going to do half and Richard’s going to do the other half’. We came out going, ‘That would’ve been a cool project to be part of’,” says Percasky.

At that stage, the Little High Eatery concept hadn’t even been thought of. The project was to be a mix of office and retail, with the potential to establish a women’s fashion precinct. Willis found that the enthusiasm of friends Percasky and Inglis wasn’t matched by the family business.

“The old company, they were never that keen,” says Willis.

So he officially pitched the project to Percasky and Inglis, and the pair were introduced to Peebles.

“What’s this Richard guy like? And you said, ‘Oh, he’s a pretty good guy,’ says Percasky, recounting his conversation with Willis.

“Lied, obviously!” adds Peebles in self-deprecation.

Christchurch developers Mike Percasky (left) Kris Inglis (middle) and Richard Peebles (right) at Riverside Market. The showpiece of Christchurch city was inspired by the trio’s involvement in Little High. Photo / George Heard

So began a partnership that Christchurch is still reaping the benefits of now. The collective of Peebles, Percasky and Inglis has a talent for providing attractions that the city didn’t know it wanted – and now can’t imagine being without them.

Still, this initial foray into a communal-style food court would take some significant imagination – and investment.

“It was a bit off-piste, so not only was it behind the facade [and the attached building], it was actually hard to sort of access effectively, but it was sort of a bit of an island here, wasn’t it? There wasn’t a lot around,” says Percasky.

With office space and retail already planned, thoughts turned to hospitality for the last empty section of the development.

‘We spent a million bucks on eight little food vendors!’

Nowadays, Little High could be described as tucked away in central Christchurch’s SALT district. SALT stands for St Asaph-Lichfield-Tuam, names of the surrounding streets. But in 2012 it was a long way from that – and a long way from ground zero of the rebuild.

“We realised for it to work as hospo, it had to be probably a destination. Around that time, the container mall was starting to wind up. We thought it’d be quite cool to keep that little vibe somehow down here,” says Percasky.

They’d admired Ponsonby Central in Auckland.

“There was nothing like that in Christchurch,” says Inglis, who describes Little High as Percasky’s baby.

“I mean, we stole a lot of it, but the real driver when I sort of started getting my head around it was I had young kids and we kept going out for dinner and it was a f****** nightmare.

“Two of them would like Mexican, but one wouldn’t, and I just wanted to go to a place where the kids could do what they want, but I could drink a really nice beer,” says Percasky, describing a reality many parents can relate to.

They wanted a space that they would enjoy as customers, but also that vendors had a hand in creating.

“Normally, the landlord just comes in and sort of says, right, this is what the space is, and then you go and fit it out,” says Percasky.

“But in this case, we knew they couldn’t afford to fit out, so we knew we had to do it together. It became more authentic because they all put their two cents’ worth in.”

The interior was laid out by acclaimed designer Georgie Kirkcaldie-Inglis, Kris’ wife.

“Somehow, we spent a million bucks on eight little food vendors! I don’t know how you agreed to it, Kris. You’re the finance man,” says Peebles.

“I was getting pressure at home! I had no choice,” says Inglis, jokingly.

“But it felt so good. The decor was awesome. Georgie did an amazing job,” says Peebles.

From L to R, Kris Inglis, Bill Willis and Mike Percasky at Little High Eatery, Christchurch. Photo / Mike Thorpe

Little High’s outgoings were flowing – but the forecasted income had somehow escaped serious scrutiny.

“At no time did we actually sit down and figure out how many people we needed to get through [the doors] to make it work. It wasn’t until quite close to opening we sort of started to do some numbers. We probably needed about 2000 people per day.

Christchurch city, at that stage, was only just properly reopening for business.

“I suddenly went, ‘Oh my God, we’d be lucky if 2000 people went into the whole of Christchurch per day. How the hell are we going to get them in here?” says Percasky.

Whilst it’s unclear if Percasky’s maths proved correct, it’s obvious that their multimillion-dollar Little High gamble paid off.

“Just from day one, it just went gangbusters,” says Percasky.

“People couldn’t believe that this was in Christchurch,” adds Inglis.

But it almost wasn’t.

‘It was just really dirty’

Long after the wall was saved, but only three months before the doors opened, a collective of rival developers put up a new wall – in the form of a judicial review. They were challenging the council consent that had been granted two years prior.

“All these people I knew suddenly had ganged up on us. Someone led the charge and convinced all the other property guys in Christchurch that allowing us to do this would water down the retail in the CBD,” says Peebles.

“I know Tim Glasson refused to sign it because he said that’s just anti-competitive,” adds Percasky.

The argument centred around how much of their new venture could contain retail space.

“We were allowed to have retail at 150 square metres on High St, but we got consent for the whole area, and that was what the argument was,” Peebles explains.

Inglis adds: “We were saying when our whole title is based on the High St, so that title should have retail capabilities, which is still the correct interpretation.”

The review was then suddenly dropped, which the group found curious.

“It was just really dirty,” says Inglis.

The McKenzie & Willis buildings. The facade on the left was saved. The red brick building was demolished. Photo / Supplied

The saga played out in the media and ultimately helped gather public support for their eagerly anticipated project.

Nine years later, Little High is still heavily supported – and it’s just been sold.

‘It wasn’t a f****** wall’

“We weren’t necessarily looking to sell it,” says Inglis.

“We’re all pretty proud of it, really enjoy owning it, but I suppose at times there’s a moment when you need to just have a look at the balance sheet.

“We’re all continuing on with some other developments around town. Richard’s got Downtown [a $130m, 20-building complex], which is awesome. Mike’s doing some stuff at Homebase, and I’ve just got heaps of debt on the house that I want to get rid of!”

Peebles sees the irony in the timing, given they’ve just begun extensions at Little High and signed a string of new tenants to the former McKenzie & Willis building, including Duck Island ice cream and Toastie Lords.

The High Street facing frontage of the former McKenzie & Willis building. New tenants Toastie Lords and Duck Island Ice Cream have recently taken up a lease there. Photo / Mike Thorpe

Nearby, One New Zealand Stadium – the city’s long-awaited new covered stadium – is also due to open in April 2026.

“I wouldn’t have sold if I wasn’t doing Downtown. I wouldn’t have sold, but that was perfect timing. And Downtown’s going to connect the city to here [Little High],” says Peebles.

The buyer is Mainland Capital’s Christchurch Fund. Established in 2018, the fund has acquired multiple properties in the CBD and, with the addition of the McKenzie & Willis building and Little High Eatery, it now boasts a combined value of approximately $109m.

Peebles, Percasky, Inglis and Willis have also invested in the fund, retaining some ownership of what they’ve created.

“We like the other buildings that are in the fund, and we’re committed to the Christchurch story,” says Inglis.

“Overly committed,” jokes Peebles.

Mainland Capital director Ben Bridge says he’s very sensitive to how much effort and risk has gone into the High Street site.

“They had to trust you’d look after what they’d spent 10 years fighting for and creating. It was a friendly conversation that developed into something which was, ‘Would you consider bringing this property into a wider Christchurch fund?’ I think that appealed to them more than if someone had said, ‘Hey, here’s a cheque’. It’s an ability to maintain ownership, so there’s going to be an ongoing connection,” says Bridge.

For Willis, there will always be a connection.

“I think for me it’s always been a journey. I grew up on this site, I ended up working here, and met Richard [Peebles]. We went through that whole process, I got into business with two of my best mates. Now it feels like the right time to bring it in with Mainland Capital,” he says.

The restored facade of the former McKenzie & Willis building is enjoyed by tram passengers. Photo / Mike Thorpe

It feels right to him now – just as it felt right to save it.

“I remember right at the beginning [wondering] if it’ll prove to be a smart move and whether it’ll happen and be a good thing. It did happen thanks to everyone here, and it’s been an amazing thing,” says Willis.

“You wouldn’t advise anyone to do it, but once it’s done, it’s really cool. It’d be hard to replicate,” says Peebles in a way that seems more like genuine advice than warding off copycats.

As the lunch crowd files in, we disperse – but not before another Peebles quip about the wall of Willis.

“I do remember when it was settled, all three of us went up on the scaffold and had a look at the wall. It wasn’t f****** a wall, it was just a loose pile of…” starts Peebles as conversation drifts back to the beginning.

Whatever it was then, it’s a wall now – and it’s load-bearing for Christchurch hospitality.

Mike Thorpe is a senior journalist for the Herald, based in Christchurch. He has been a broadcast journalist across television and radio for 20 years and joined the Herald in August 2024.