2-8 Lambton Quay
9-19A Kate Sheppard Place
(Kate Sheppard Exchange)

The chequered history of the development of this site seems doomed to continue. The judicial review of the Wellington City Council’s granting of resource consent for the development of the site by the joint venture between the Trust and Equinox Group overturned the consent that was granted, forcing a re-think of the whole project. The decision will step the whole development away from the neighbouring property that took the judicial review, and will instead take up the air space over the Council bus turnaround area which would allow a bigger footprint and provide a more efficient development on the site. This will require the Joint Venture getting new consents from Wellington City Council particularly when developing the air rights over the bus turnaround area. 

In the meantime, another hotel developer sought to buy the site from the JV and made an offer subject to completing due diligence. In the end they found the project too difficult and withdrew their offer. The matter is now back with the JV to try to either sell the property or develop it.