St Gerard’s sold to a foreigner for less than $6 million

Wellington’s word is that a former New Zealander purchased St. Gerald’s Abbey, but the exact price remains unknown.

The name of the former buyer and the exact price at which the iconic Wellington property was sold were not disclosed, according to James Copeland, the listing agent responsible for the sale of St Gerard’s.

Settlement of the property is at the end of June.

The $16.9 million RV declared Category 1 heritage listed church and convent building listed on OneRoof was purchased within a month of being on the market.

In a Facebook post confirming the sale, Copeland said:

These buildings were sold to the Institute for World Evangelization (ICPE Mission) in 1990 for $540,000.

The building closed almost two years ago because the organization was unable to raise enough funds to carry out the necessary seismic retrofitting work.

Only 25% of building codes have been rated, and considerable work is needed to bring it up to current standards.

St. Gerald’s Church was built in 1908 and the Abbey decades later in 1932. Both were designed by the city’s most famous architects, John Swann and Frederic de Jersey-Claire.

The north side of the building offers spectacular views of Oriental Bay and the harbor, while the west side offers views of famous city landmarks such as Clyde Quay, the waterfront, the CBD, the stadium and the University of Victoria.

The building sits on the city’s most exclusive 2,433-square-meter lot.

family connection

In a strange twist of fate, real estate agent James Copeland said he had lived in St. Gerald for a year. His parents ran the first missionary school there.

“I was in school with them. I was not a school participant, but I lived there for a year,” he said.

His father, former MP Gordon Copeland, was later chairman of the St. Gerald’s Maintenance and Restoration Trust when the owner was presented with a $10 million seismic retrofitting bill.

“Mom and Dad celebrated their 25th, 40th, 50th wedding anniversary there. Four years ago we had my father’s funeral,” he said.

“So it’s a building of great spiritual importance to our family, and as a kind of heritage building, probably all the work that my father and he did for the Catholic Church, and what he did for the ICPE. All the work I’ve done.”

sauce

• Facebook
• one roof
• New Zealand Catholic
• Wikipedia
• Correction: The original version of this article stated that Gordon Copeland served two terms in the Cabinet. Corrected to say he was a Member of Parliament.

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