Dakota bar owner Jose Ubiaga says the Reading Cinema deal needs to be done, but is worried about the precedent it might set. Photo: RNZ / Max Towle
A Wellington bar owner says the Reading Cinema deal needs to be done, but he is worried about the precedent it might set for other undeveloped land.
The city council has decided to push ahead with a $32 million deal to buy the land under the earthquake-prone complex on Courtenay Place. It plans to lease it back to the international company, so it can fund earthquake strengthening.
Owner of neighbouring bar Dakota, Jose Ubiaga, told Morning Report the deal should be done because the building had been unused since 2019.
"It's just been a gradual decline of a lot of places and deterioration of the street and it just seems to be getting worse," Ubiaga said.
"We've seen more and more homelessness come to the street, more and more buildings deteriorate and we've got more vacant places around Courtenay place then we've ever had."
"They've kind of backed themselves into a corner" - Dakota bar owner Jose Ubiaga
However, Ubiaga said land-banking was a big issue, and he worried this deal might set a precedent for other landowners in the city.
"Some of these big developers they land bank these spaces, and they sit on them and they don't do anything with them and the council need to start putting pressure on some of these sites to ensure that development is done.
"Like they should be doubling their rates every year if it [has] sat dormant for two years with no plans. That way they either start to do something with it or sell it and get someone else who will do something with it."
While he believed the Reading Cinema deal might not be a great one for ratepayers, there did not appear to be another option.
"Unfortunately, they've kind of backed themselves into a corner and let it go on for as long as they have and if they don't buy that land it will sit vacant for another five years."
Even with the deal, it would be years before anything was done to fix the building and bring it back to life, he said.
Councillors say limited powers to deal with owners and rough sleepers
Councillor Iona Pannett, who opposed the deal, told Morning Report on Thursday that they could not force the owner to act on the building unless it reached a very high threshold under the dangerous and insanitary provisions in the Building Act.
Lambton ward councillor Nicola Young, who also opposed the plan, said it was an "incredibly ugly" building and something needed to be done about it.
"It's completely inappropriate for the site but there's not much we can do about that," Young told Morning Report.
"I walk through that area every day, because I live quite close by, it is a very grotty area, not helped by the number of people sleeping on the streets, the shops that have closed, we have very high rates, there's about to be another almost 19 percent I think we're looking at, and of course commercial ratepayers pay 3.7 times the residential rates.
"This is terrible for businesses, no wonder some of them can't afford to go on."
"The area isn't very attractive because you have to sort of walk over people to get into the shops" - Lambton ward councillor Nicola Young
She said the area had become unsettling and uncomfortable but the council had limited powers in that scope and community organisations have tried to help those on the streets.
"These people are not homeless, there's all sorts of stories about them, but we know they're not homeless. They might have mental health issues, addiction issues, but they're not homeless.
"I have quite strong views about it but they're not reflected by all my colleagues."
Negotiations to resume
Wellington City Council will resume negotiations on Friday with Reading Cinema after a failed bid by councillors to stymie the proposal.
More information about the agreement finally came to light on Wednesday, after months of public speculation following leaked details last year. About 80 percent of the deal has already been agreed.
A motion filed by councillor Iona Pannett to stop the deal did not get enough support.
The council will now continue doing its due diligence and will formalise the contract and make a $6 million downpayment when both parties are satisfied.
Reading would then have two years to finish its designs, and get council approval and resource consents.
It hopes to have the large Courtney Place building finished by 2027.