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The 10-story tower in Television New Zealand’s former Avalon center in Lower Hutt will be converted into apartments.
Developer Ian Cassels is behind the two-year, $ 20 million project to dismantle and refurbish the 1970s concrete building into 68 units. Works are scheduled to begin next year.
The tower is the most prominent feature of the former television studio complex that opened in 1975 under the then New Zealand Broadcasting Corporation as the first purpose-built television center in the country.
Matthew Tso / Things
Developer Ian Cassels is backing a $ 20 million remodel of the Avalon Studios tower in Lower Hutt into a 68-unit apartment block.
Cassels said the building had been virtually unoccupied for years and converting it for residential use was the logical solution to getting the most out of the building.
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Eight levels would initially be developed, each with five single and two double bedroom units. Later another floor with 12 apartments would be released.
Cassels said that heightened accommodation in New Zealand had historically been overlooked. While quarter-acre sections had long been the norm, they were scattered and difficult to maintain with amenities.
Urbanized places like London and New York were dynamic and attractive places to live, he said.
Ross Giblin / Stuff
The former television studios will be converted into one- and two-bedroom apartments.
Apartments are becoming more important in the city with two new complexes being built in the center of Lower Hutt.
While pricing had not yet been finalized, the one-bedroom units would be priced for first-time home buyers “in the $ 500,000 range.”
“It’s nice to have something that allows people to climb the ladder. The prices are so high; otherwise, they may never go up, ”Cassels said.
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Listing broker Shane Brockelbank said the one-bedroom units in particular would help drive the very low stock of “entry-level” affordable homes in Lower Hutt.
Professional listing broker Shane Brockelbank said Lower Hutt was desperately short of housing, particularly at affordable prices. According to the New Zealand Real Estate Institute, the median home price in the city hit a record $ 761,000 last month.
The tower was in a low-rise area and was the tallest building in the city, so it would have views from all sides, Brockelbank said.
NZBC television news services were filmed on the site until 1980, when the station began relocating its operations to Auckland.
Gradually, operations were completed at the site and the tower was sold in 2004. The remainder of the studio was sold in 2010, part of which remains a private film and television production facility.
