Pinnacle of Luxury: 94 Feet launches exclusive penthouses in $NZ250 million development

WORDS: Ocean Road Magazine Editorial Staff PHOTOGRAPHY Supplied

Private Melbourne development company 94 Feet – developer of the recently launched $NZ2 billion Lakeview Te Taumata in Queenstown – has launched a penthouse collection as it winds up its highly successful foray into the New Zealand market with its $NZ250 million 51 Albert Street hotel and residential apartments in the Auckland CBD.

The project, which was launched during the COVID pandemic, is set to become the first residential/ hotel tower in Auckland for more than a decade with multi-national builder Icon hoping for a construction completion in coming months.

51 Albert features a 225-room hotel and 30 premium penthouse apartments of which 25 have sold to the tune of $NZ75 million for prices ranging between $NZ1.5 million to $NZ7.3 million, with buyers predominantly high net worth New Zealanders.

94 Feet, headed by the Melbourne-based Rzechta family, has unwittingly become New Zealand’s largest private residential developer as it moves from completion of 51 Albert Street into its transformative $2 billion Lakeview Te Taumata in Queenstown.

Lakeview, launched last month, has already achieved more than $NZ100 million in sales.

94 Feet development manager Charmaine Balchin said 51 Albert had been a significant success for the company in its first foray into the New Zealand market.

“We’re delighted with the success of 51 Albert which we believe will be a significant new residential and hotel asset for Auckland which hasn’t had this type of product introduced for many years,” said Ms Balchin.

“The sales we have achieved – 25 out of the 30 apartments – is demonstrative of the quality of the offering and the high demand for luxury residential apartments in the heart of the Auckland CBD.”

Ms Balchin said the just released sub- penthouse at was priced at $NZ12 million along with a sprawling 335 square metre full floor penthouse with north facing views and 3.5 metre ceiling listed at $NZ15 million.

“We’ve had a strong level of interest in the sub-penthouse and the penthouse and we believe now is the right time to release to the market because the building has now topped out and the scale and enormity of the offerings can be viewed by prospective buyers.”

Additional remaining premium two-bedroom, north facing, half-floor apartments with 180-degree views are priced between $NZ2.75 million – $NZ2.95 million.

Apartments run from levels 29-41, with the hotel operating to level 27.

Ms Balchin said 94 Feet was now turning its attention to Lakeview Te Taumata which was arguably Australasia’s most unique residential offering and which is set to transform New Zealand’s ski and lifestyle mecca of Queenstown.

The vision of Lakeview Te Taumata is to be the centre of connection to Queenstown, bringing a living, dynamic neighbourhood specifically curated for work and play to life, where residents have everything right at their door.

The highly anticipated Lakeview is set to offer a diverse range of amenities including 750 residential apartments, three hotels with a capacity of 750 rooms and extensive commercial developments consisting of a co-living building, a co-working centre, health and wellness facilities, curated retail spaces, an art gallery and an extensive selection of food and beverage options.

The project has been well supported by the Australian and NZ markets with some significant interest from the US where offshore buyers can purchase in the project through a management leaseback arrangement.

“We’ve got very strong interest from the US who see NZ as a very safe, very dynamic and when compared to the US dollar, an affordable offering in arguably one of the southern hemisphere’s most dynamic precincts.”

Lakeview Te Taumata is being marketed by Sothebys New Zealand and construction on the first stage is anticipated middle of this year.

94 Feet is a well-established Australian company which has developed a portfolio of commercial, residential, hotel and land lease projects in Australia and New Zealand at a consistently high quality, to the tune of over $1.4 billion.