Property Insider: Martin Russell’s Stonemont buys 60 apartments at Takapuna’s Amaia; Seascape, Smith & Caughey’s sales?

Questions asked include: who bought the new units near the approach to the motorway? How many are occupied? And what further stages are planned?

Amaia apartments – a new development at 48 Esmonde Rd. People are living in units there.

Now, one local businessman says he has bought half the units at Amaia, which is te reo Māori for rainbow.

Property consultant and investor Martin James Russell said his company, Stonemont, had bought 60 of the 106 Amaia units this year.

Title transfers show that settlement occurred on February 13.

Russell said he bought the apartments from the developer as long-term rentals.

The Amaia block is at 48 Esmonde Rd, Takapuna.

Most of the 60 are rented, he said.

“It’s a good long-term investment,” Russell said.

He is a director of CPMC, a consultancy firm specialising in development management and project management, is a Takapuna local and the company is based at 412 Lake Rd, Takapuna.

Stonemont was only incorporated last August.

It lists itself as a residential property development business, wholly owned by Russell’s Stonemont Group.

Further plans for Amaia. The block on the far left has not yet been built.

Overseas-based Clearwater Capital Partners Direct Lending Opportunities Fund L.P. has a mortgage on the units, along with Clearwater Atlas.

Tamba Carleton of CBRE’s residential research told the Herald she knew about Russell’s big buy-up.

Tamba Carleton specialises in research on apartments and is from CBRE.

A few months ago, she referred obliquely to that purchase in a LinkedIn post, naming him – but only in an obscure way.

In her second-quarter (Q2) three-monthly update on Auckland apartment sales, she noted many sales but she said that was due to one purchase in particular.

How Amaia would be developed if all the buildings were built. Image / Jasmax

“In Q1, there were 521 completed units still held by the developer. Today (Q2), that number has dropped 18% to be 428,” Carleton wrote.

“Before you get all excited, two-thirds of that was a wholesale sale of all the remaining units in one building to a property entity. So individual buyers were only responsible for 32 sales.

When asked on LinkedIn about what that buyer intended, she said questions should be put to Martin Russell.

Full Amaia plans shown here: buildings which already got consent (right) with the proposed 15-building scheme rising up to 16 levels. Photo / Jasmax

KBS Capital, owned by Brilliant Stone, developed the ex-church site, which straddles a thin strip between Esmonde Rd and the Waitematā Harbour, which is the main exit and entrance to the Auckland Harbour Bridge from that side of the North Shore.

Russell’s company has other large-scale apartment holdings elsewhere in Auckland.

Property records show Stonemont owns dozens of apartments in two Māngere projects by the failed Du Val businesses, once headed by Kenyon and Charlotte Clarke.

Du Val Construction worked on the partially completed Mountain Vista Estate in Māngere before the development group collapsed. Photo / NZME

These are 1 Te Ara Wai and Mountain Vista, at 35 Walmsley Rd.

In 2024, Russell told BusinessDesk that CPMC was assisting statutory managers with finalising Du Val developments at existing sites.

Du Val founders Kenyon and Charlotte Clarke.

“Our involvement only commenced at the latter part of a project when it was in difficulty,” Russell said two years ago.

Amaia was developed by entities linked to Hobson Green.

Those were listed last year as owing creditors $31.5 million.

Russell said: “Stonemont has interests in residential properties in Māngere as well as the Amia apartments.

“The Māngere properties form part of our residential investment portfolio and we continue to actively manage those assets.”

Who is buying Seascape?

Hotel Properties of Singapore did not answer questions about whether it is doing due diligence on the abandoned Seascape ghost tower.

The buyer is thought to be planning to have the building completed and operate as New Zealand’s tallest hotel.

Stephen Lau of HPL Hotels & Resorts did not respond to questions about whether that business was negotiating to buy the ghost tower.

People in the sector said he just may be the person to ask.

He was involved in Hotel Properties’ $180m purchase last year of the InterContinental Hotel Auckland from Precinct Properties.

The exterior of the InterContinental Auckland.

The waterfront block at One Queen St was Hotel Properties’ first purchase in New Zealand.

On March 4 last year, Hotel Properties company secretary Joanna Lim issued a statement that indicated the company’s desire to be here.

“The transaction will allow HPL Group to expand its hotel portfolio in New Zealand. Auckland is New Zealand’s largest city, home to more than one-third of New Zealand’s population.

“The city is the gateway to New Zealand, with more than 70% of visitor arrivals entering through Auckland International Airport.”

Smith & Caughey Queen St sale?

Smith & Caughey’s was established in 1880. Photo / Sylvie Whinray

Campbell Barbour at New Zealand Retail Property Group (NZRPG) said he could not discuss whether the company was interested in Queen St’s Smith & Caughey’s building.

But those in the sector said the giant retailer, which brought Costco to New Zealand, had offered about $58m and was under a conditional contract.

The Smith & Caughey’s board said last July it planned to sell Queen St and Newmarket but only the latter was sold so far.

JLL’s Todd Laughlan, the agent acting, did not respond to questions about the sale.

The property had been a hallmark of longevity for a 144-year-old Auckland retail business.

Smith & Caughey’s building on the corner of Queen St, Elliott St and Wellesley St. Photo / Steven McNicholl

All up, the retailer’s two Auckland stores were in 2024 valued at $53.5m.

A family company incorporated 126 years ago owns the flagship Queen St building where the retailer had its “Grande Dame” headquarters.

The entity which owns that distinct building is Smith & Caughey, which Companies Office records show was incorporated on December 13, 1900.

Still today, it is that company which owns 253 Queen St in the heart of the Golden Mile, title records show.

Andrew Lamb of Galaxy Property said his business was managing the building, but he did not respond to questions about whether a sale is pending.

Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga lists the Smith & Caughey Building, Wellesley St West and Elliott St, as a Historic Place Category 1 building.

The retailer, when it was still operating from the building. Photo / Michael Craig

Category 1 Historic Places are of special or outstanding historical or cultural significance or value. The building was entered on to the list in March 1986.

One heritage website said Smith & Caughey’s Wellesley St extension, with its south facade and north elevation, dates back to 1927.

It was designed by architect Roy Lippincott, an American who designed a number of famous buildings.

Anne Gibson has been the Herald’s property editor for 26 years, written books and covered property extensively here and overseas.

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