New Zealand's biggest apartment goes on the market for sale

New Zealand’s biggest and most prestigious penthouse apartment has been placed on the market for sale.

The enormous penthouse suite atop of Auckland’s Princes Wharf, sprawls over 880 square metres – with an additional 250 square metres of decking encircling the living areas.

By comparison, figures from Statistics New Zealand show that the median New Zealand residential dwelling floor size in 2009/2010 was 197 square metres – making the Prince’s Wharf apartment five times bigger than the average Kiwi home.

The impressive Prince’s Wharf residence features a range of amenities which would leave the average Kiwi home owner reeling in awe, including:

• A double-size master bedroom complete with enormous walk-through clothing storage suite similar in size to a boutique clothes store, AND separate ensuite his and hers bathrooms with mounted flat screen TVs
• Three other large bedrooms – each with marble ensuite bathrooms
• Separate his and hers offices
• A separate guest wing complete with its own kitchen, games room and two additional bedrooms
• A temperature controlled wine cellar with racks for 2000 bottles
• A heated infinity swimming pool overlooking a BBQ area, with additional room for a petanque court
• Two private lifts – one leading down to secure car parks specifically allocated to the apartment
• A tool shed
• A commercial sized kitchen with walk-in refrigerator

and

• A cat flap for the pets.

The impressive eighth floor mansion belongs to Auckland property developer David Henderson, and is being marketed for sale by Bayleys through a tender process closing on November 24.

Bayleys sales consultant Duncan Ritchie said Mr Henderson was fully realistic with price expectations, and said the market would now guage the accuracy of speculation around town that the property was the most expensive apartment in New Zealand.

“Quite simply, there is nothing like this penthouse apartment anywhere else in New Zealand,” Mr Ritchie said. “It’s as close to the best of New York’s 5th Avenue style apartment living as you can get.

“In the nine years that I’ve been selling apartments in every tower and hotel in Auckland, there has never been anything which compares to the penthouse on Princes Wharf.

“The next biggest penthouse apartment suites – at the Sentinel on Auckland’s North Shore, and the 11 apartment block at Mt Maunganui – pale into comparison by size, being around 650 square metres in total.”

The Princes Wharf penthouse apartment sits atop the Hilton Hotel complex and has virtual 360 degree views stretching from Auckland’s commercial ports, across the Waitemata Harbour, and up to the Waitakere Ranges.

Mr Ritchie admitted that the potential buyer pool for the luxury Auckland waterfront dwelling was limited, although because the apartment was a ‘one of a kind’, he expected interest to be strong as there was no other comparable residential addresses on the market.

“I’d say potential buyers for this property would possess a particular ‘attitude’ – because living in this much space and grandeur could be daunting, even for those who are used to living in larger more traditional homes,” Mr Ritchie said.

“The fittings throughout were all completed to the highest standards using the likes of marble and oak, while the wiring running throughout every room for the internet, hi’ fi’ stereo and TV connections, is like something out of a NASA control centre.”