CHRIS SKELTON / Stuff
The Court Theater building and its 5-acre site were purchased by a development company for $ 11.6 million.
The Court Theater building could be transformed into a new shopping attraction like The Tannery once the company moves to a new home in central Christchurch.
The 5-hectare theater building and its 5-acre site in the Christchurch suburb of Addington were sold to a development company in July for $ 11.6 million.
The Court Theater is renting the building and preparing to build a new $ 36 million home in central Christchurch.
Nick Ward, director of Walsall Street Developments, said they bought the site as a long-term investment.
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“A five-acre site near the city seemed like a pretty good long-term hold,” he said.
“It’s a nice emerging suburb in Christchurch, with all the new housing coming up there.”
Peter Meecham / Stuff
The Tannery in Woolston, Christchurch, opened in 2013 and is very popular.
He said one idea was to transform the Court Theater building, which is a former grain store, into a store attraction similar to the popular Tannery Boutique Retail Center in Woolston.
“It would be great. The building lends itself to that and has been fully reinforced and everything made up, so we thought we might be able to use it.”
The rest of the site could be developed for commercial space, new housing or even a retirement resort, he said.
The site and building were previously owned by Marachi Ltd., who purchased the site in 1992 for $ 1.1 million. Marachi has six directors, five of whom are based in Malaysia.
Ward said he was happy to work with the Court Theater until they moved into their new building.
Barbara George, CEO of Court Theater, said the sale did not affect their rent of the building.
CHRIS SKELTON / Stuff
The Court Theater moved into the former grain store in 2011 after the earthquakes damaged their Arts Center home.
“We will be on site until we move into the city,” she said.
“We are good for the time we need until our new building is ready for us.
“We have a few more years.”
The Court Theater is working with Christchurch City Council to build a new home on the corner of Gloucester and Colombo streets in the city center.
In April, the council said there was no confirmed date for when construction would be completed and the new theater would open. Last year, the opening date moved from September 2023 to the first half of 2024.
The new theater will include a 360-seat main auditorium and a 130-seat studio theater.
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The Court Theater built its new premises in 2011 in a former grain warehouse in Addington.
The Council is providing $ 30m for the project, while the Court Theater will raise $ 6m for the new building. The Crown provided the land as part of the cost-sharing agreement for the reconstruction. Councilors have been warned that the project could face ‘significant cost increases’ due to rising labor and material costs.
The theater has been operating in the converted Grain Storage Building in Addington since the 2011 Canterbury earthquakes damaged its Arts Center home.