“We had a real desire to save and preserve more of the city’s heritage architecture and we had learnt a lot from the redevelopment of McKenzie & Willis, and we believed we could bring some of the same techniques to the redevelopment of the Duncan’s Buildings.
Kris Inglis, Bill Willis and Mike Percasky at Little High Eatery, Christchurch. Photo / Mike Thorpe
“The vision was to keep and restore the facade, salvage as many materials as possible and re-develop behind to make it look like, if not original buildings, certainly sympathetic to the original design. We replaced the ground floor timber joinery with replica rosewood, used recycled bricks for external walls and recreated arch timber windows to make it as authentic as possible.
“We’re all proud of how it turned out and think the buildings are very complementary to the vision of the entire area.”
The 1646sq m of floor space across 966sq m of land across four titles, sold individually or as one lot.
The group recently sold Little High Eatery to the Mainland Capital’s Christchurch Fund, before investing in the fund themselves. The Duncan’s Buildings are just a block away from One New Zealand Stadium, which has reinvigorated that part of the CBD.
“We made the decision late last year to sell 181 High but keep some equity in by investing in the Mainland Capital Christchurch Fund. That decision was made because we all wanted some funds out for different reasons; other developments, repaying debt, etc, but wanted to retain some connection and ownership. Then, because of the adjacency, it made sense to look at the opportunity sell the Duncan’s Buildings as well.
“Initially we looked at selling them into the Christchurch Fund too, but due to the ability to have three separate titles we thought they would be more attractive to a wider audience of buyers if we took them to market with Colliers.
The High Street frontage of the Duncan’s Buildings. Photo / OneRoof
“The reasons for selling the Duncan’s Buildings are similar, but sometimes we do still question whether we should be selling as they are really iconic, cool heritage properties to own, but in the end we have owned them for over 10 years and we all have other projects to focus on. We are very aware of the stadium being up and running now and our tenants have felt the surge of customers, which is great for them to be doing more sales.
“Retail rents in this area are only a third of Cashel Mall, so as the population and business grows the rents have room to move up, so I guess in that respect we have left something on the table for the next owner.”
The restoration sought to salvage as many materials as possible. Photo / OneRoof
Despite being a group of four – all with their own business interests, they were unanimous in deciding to sell.
“In the end all of the partners have different reasons behind the sale. We’re lucky it’s a group that has been together for over 10 years and get on well, and our interests are generally aligned. We do still own nearby land and are committed to that area of the city so look out for our future developments in the Salt district.”
The properties are being offered for sale via Deadline Private Treaty, with offers due by 4pm, September 10 (unless sold earlier).
Mike Thorpe is a senior multimedia 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.