Arbor House off the market. PHOTO/FILE
KAREN COLTMAN
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Much to the relief of its owners, Arbor House finally has a tenant and another one set to sign up.
Arbor Holdings Ltd had the Greytown property listed with Sotheby’s Realty last November and a deal on the table a month and a half ago, but it fell through.
The owners went back to the drawing board and decided to withdraw the property from the market.
They now envision Arbor House as a commercial business hub, once the usage of the buildings is zoned to commercial.
Arbor Holdings Ltd comprises WCM lawyer Jason Carruthers, director of Holmes Construction Ben Holmes, and Kate and Marc Jurlina of Holmes Construction.
They bought the property from Arbor House Trust for $800,000 a year ago, and formed the company.
But the company has had a mortgage and no tenant for nine months.
“We were at a loss about what to do when our tenant [Arbor House] moved out sooner than expected,” Kate Jurlina said.
“We understand and appreciate the history of the site and had thought that the residents would stay until The Orchards [retirement community] was open and move into that rest home.”
The company has engaged independent contractor Russell Hooper to help with its application to the South Wairarapa District Council to have the usage of the buildings re-zoned to commercial.
It is zoned for healthcare services and has been for the past 30 years.
Sandpit Architectural Design and other contractors are modernising the buildings for new tenants.
“We think it will be a wonderful place for business and healthcare-related tenants and envisage it to be a commercial business hub,” Jurlina said.
“We are pleased to be moving forward and closing the loop on this story and developing something good for Wairarapa.”
Social media posts over the weekend suggesting that Arbor House was to become housing for incoming refugees were incorrect.
