{"id":468139,"date":"2026-06-09T09:34:09","date_gmt":"2026-06-09T09:34:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/468139\/"},"modified":"2026-06-09T09:34:09","modified_gmt":"2026-06-09T09:34:09","slug":"christchurchs-derelict-antonio-hall-mansion-site-to-become-450-bed-student-village","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/468139\/","title":{"rendered":"Christchurch\u2019s derelict Antonio Hall mansion site to become 450-bed student village"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mainland Capital says the scheme \u201cwill take its design cues from the traditional mews typology found internationally, built around central courtyards and generous shared amenities\u201d. <\/p>\n

Antonio Hall has long sat vacant and has been the target of vandals and squatters. <\/p>\n

The original house was constructed in the early 1900s and remained a residence until 1946, when it was purchased by the Roman Catholic Church.<\/p>\n

\"AntonioAntonio Hall before it fell into a state of disrepair.<\/p>\n

It became a private hostel for university students known as Campion Hall before it was sold to the Luisetti family and renamed Antonio Hall. It was then sold to another group that planned to renovate the property as a motel. <\/p>\n

Until recently, it was classified as a Category 2 Historic Place. <\/p>\n

\u201cStudent accommodation is one of the fastest-growing investment sectors globally. Christchurch has seen very little institutional development in this space despite strong student growth, so opportunities of this scale and proximity to campus are exceptionally rare,\u201d says Mainland Capital Executive Director Ben Bridge.<\/p>\n

\" Mainland Capital’s Executive Director, Ben Bridge. Photo \/ Supplied<\/p>\n

Figures supplied by Mainland Capital suggest that the University of Canterbury (UC) recorded 27,000 enrolments in 2025, the highest figure in the university\u2019s 150-year history and a 44% increase over five years. <\/p>\n

\u201cThis was the only site in Christchurch that met the criteria of what we were looking for; proximity to campus, appropriate zoning, and the scale to deliver a standard of accommodation that students here have not previously had access to,\u201d says Chris Scott, head of Finance and Acquisitions at Mainland Capital.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe once grand Antonio Hall on Riccarton Road has been targeted by vandals and squatters and lies derelict.<\/p>\n

The site has been empty since the 2011 earthquakes, with fires in 2019 and 2021, leaving the original building beyond practical repair. Its heritage listing was formally removed in late 2025 – a step the Christchurch City Council took after the structure was deemed unsalvageable.<\/p>\n

\" The Sheraton Christchurch is set to open in mid-2027 after a hotel management agreement was signed with Marriott International by Mainland Capital and Russell Property Group.<\/p>\n

The Antonio Hall site is the second long-dormant Christchurch landmark that Mainland Capital is bringing back into active use. The real estate funds management firm is currently leading the redevelopment of the former Noah\u2019s Hotel on Oxford Terrace as the new Sheraton Christchurch, a $150 million-plus joint venture with Russell Property Group, operated by Marriott International under the Sheraton brand, scheduled to open in mid-2027. <\/p>\n

The Antonio Hall development is planned to be completed for the 2028 academic year. <\/p>\n

Mike Thorpe<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Mainland Capital says the scheme \u201cwill take its design cues from the traditional mews typology found internationally, built…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":468140,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[236861,62925,16745,121086,6726,69003,138,87228,4487,50545,1568,4190,86209,57236,809,661,17358,130,111,139,69,12975,1857,9631,131,1361,61,8238,23534,102],"class_list":["post-468139","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-450bed","tag-accommodation","tag-adding","tag-antonio","tag-become","tag-beds","tag-business","tag-cannot","tag-christchurch","tag-christchurchs","tag-construction","tag-demand","tag-derelict","tag-hall","tag-keep","tag-major","tag-mansion","tag-more","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-sector","tag-site","tag-student","tag-than","tag-that","tag-to","tag-under","tag-village","tag-with"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/468139","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=468139"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/468139\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/468140"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=468139"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=468139"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=468139"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}