The Grand, housed in the 140-year-old former Chief Post Office in Cathedral Square, is aiming to become a primary
hospitality hub in Christchurch. To fund the redevelopment, they are raising a minimum of $800,000 and a maximum of $2
million through an equity crowdfunding campaign on PledgeMe.
The campaign launched last week and has raised over $150,000 so far. Canterbury locals and members of the public can
become shareholders for a minimum pledge of $500. Darin Rainbird, Founder of The Grand, is excited for the future
hospitality hub to be owned by Canterbury locals.
“The Grand will be a place where people from all over Canterbury, and elsewhere, can come together. It will first and
foremost be a place of community, so it makes sense to us that it is owned by the community too”.
Mr Rainbird is happy with the support that The Grand has received so far, citing messages of support and the amount
raised. However, he believes there are many more Canterbury locals who are interested in the project who haven’t pledged
yet.
“We had over 460 sign-ups to our investor pre-registration list, so we know there are a lot of people who may still want
to be part of our journey. We’d love to see them get on board!”.
Mr Rainbird and his team have an ambitious plan for The Grand to become a main hospitality hub for the region. Once the
redevelopment is completed, it will include an artisan French bakery, a food court, a visitor information centre,
restaurants and bars, and ‘one of New Zealand’s largest outdoor plazas’, according to the company’s information memorandum.
Inspired by the redevelopment of Denver Union Station in Colorado, USA, the redeveloped community space will stay true
to its existing holistic architecture and interior design.
“There’s a lot of history here”, says Stephanie Rainbird, Director of The Grand. “We want to make sure we celebrate that
history as well as cement The Grand’s place in the future of Christchurch’s city fabric.”
“We’re also eager to celebrate Canterbury beyond our own walls, which is what the visitor information centre will be all
about”.
The visitor information centre will promote the wider region of Canterbury to out-of-town visitors, helping to boost
local tourism.
The lease has been signed and commences once Armitage Williams Construction, the landlord’s contractors, has completed
the strengthening of the building. Once that is completed, The Grand will commence with the building fit-out. The aim is
to start fitting the building out by the end of October.
The equity crowdfunding campaign launched publicly on September 23 at 7am NZDT and closes on October 27 at 12pm NZDT.
The Grand is offering up to 40% ownership of the company and is raising up to $2 million. $153,713 has been raised so
far through 62 pledgers. The campaign and information memorandum can be found here: https://www.pledgeme.co.nz/investments/439