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Arbitration has cut back a big rent hike on the ratepayer-funded ARC’s Pitt St offices, which soon becomes occupied by the new Auckland council set-up.
ARC Chair Mike Lee had sought the arbitration after notification of a 37% cent increase from February 2009.
The ARC building was sold off to the private sector at the insistence of the government in the mid 1990s.
“When the six year lease on the building expired last year we were hit with a bill for $4 million per year from the building’s owner Kiwi Income Property Holdings Ltd,” he said. “While we expected some increase since the last evaluation three years prior, this figure came as something of a surprise, in fact I thought it was over the top. This I was unwilling to accept.”
The ARC wouldn’t pay and sought arbitration and consequently, after hearing arguments from the two parties, the Umpire for Rent Arbitration has reduced the rent demand from $4 million to $3.5 million.
3 Comments
Yay, privatisation. Why didn’t they sell off the beehive while they were at it and rent that too?
I think the Super City isn’t even going to use that building.
Yeah, but guess what - if they last year renewed the 6-year lease, then we will have to use it for another couple years. Not faulting ARC - after all, in 2009 they couldn’t have just cancelled their lease just because Rodney Hide was already minister.