$1.3m Rebuild Rectifies Quake Damage on Historic Site

$1.3m Rebuild Rectifies Quake Damage on Historic Site

Press Release: Harcourts
17 September 2014

A $1.3 million rebuild and refurbishment has been completed on historical Beckenham buildings damaged in the Canterbury earthquakes.

Harcourts Grenadier Beckenham occupies a unique collection of buildings on the corner of Tennyson and Colombo Streets, which are a well-known landmark in Christchurch’s southern suburbs.

Owners Bill and Tekla Kridle say the earthquakes took their toll and it has been a long road to recovery.

“We’ve just completed our rebuild and internal refurbishment. We had a very long wait to obtain resource consent, and the work has taken the better part of a year, but it’s been worth it,” Mr Kridle says.

As part of the rebuild, the historic green grocer shop, which was previously Harcourts Grenadier Beckenham’s reception, was demolished and rebuilt. A rib-raft foundation was put in place and an existing 1870s villa was moved to the street to serve as a new boardroom and training facility.

The new reception features a floor-to-ceiling light wall that changes colour every few seconds throughout the day and night, and backlit window displays showcase current real estate listings.

In addition a large double faced street clock has been installed on the Colombo Street side.

The rebuild/ refurbishment process has uncovered some of the site’s long and colourful history.

Harcourts Grenadier Beckenham has occupied the corner site for 30 years, but in previous incarnations the building has served as a local dairy, a TAB, a private residence and a hair salon. In keeping with tradition, the Harcourts Grenadier Beckenham team has planted a veggie garden behind the villa and installed a henhouse to provide fresh eggs.

Mr Kridle says during the renovations they discovered a logo behind a plaster wall that revealed one of the buildings was part of Grocer’s United Stores Ltd, dating back to the early 1900s.

One of the villas on the site was also revealed to be older than the official title suggests.

“The earliest date reflected on the title is 1899, but we believe the villa is much older than this, possibly going back to the 1870s or 1880s. It was a private residence for many years, with a large backyard for kids, pets and hens. Prior to us buying it in 2003, it had been a rental and was in rough shape. We refurbished it back then and obtained consent to use it for part of our real estate office. Over the years, we have had lots of visitors who claim to have lived in it at one time or another.”

Much of Harcourts Grenadier Beckenham’s franchise area suffered badly as a result of the earthquakes and Mrs Kridle says the widespread damage presented an enormous challenge to the Christchurch real estate industry.

“We had to figure out how to sell damaged houses and how real estate would continue. In the immediate aftermath, the number of houses on the market shrunk, but the demand was still there – and became even stronger.

“We are proud of our newly refurbished premises and proud of our history here. We can’t wait to continue to help our clients any way we can.”

ENDS

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