• The Reading Cinema complex has sat empty on Wellington’s Courtenay Place since 2019.
• To try to incentivise development, the Wellington City Council concocted a controversial deal with Reading that failed in April last year.
• The site was put up for sale in July and after months of negotiations, a Wellington-based developer is the successful new owner.

The derelict Reading Cinema complex on Wellington’s Courtenay Place has finally been sold, with a local developer snapping up the 1.5-hectare plot.

The property was at the centre of a controversial deal between Wellington City Council and Reading International last year, after the council tried to buy the land under the quake-prone building to incentivise development.

After that deal fell through, the site was listed for sale in July, with Wellington-based Primeproperty Group now the new owner.

Company director Eyal Aharoni confirmed the sale to the Herald, but said he was unable to provide any further detail on his plans for the site “due to confidentiality agreements”.

The Reading Cinema Complex in Wellington has sat empty since 2019. Photograph / Mark Mitchell

The site, which includes the cinema complex and several adjacent sites was listed as an “unmissable opportunity for developers”, after the bid between Wellington City Council and parent company Reading International to revive the complex failed.

The proposed deal was for the council to purchase the land underneath the cinema for $32 million, freeing up cash for the cinema to redevelop the building.

Reading could buy back the land for the council’s original purchase price within the first 10 years, meaning the council would not make any capital gains.

The secrecy surrounding the deal initially divided councillors. As more detail came to light, several councillors criticised the scheme as “corporate welfare”, while others saw it as an unorthodox tool to encourage development.

Mayor Tory Whanau championed the proposal as a chance to revitalise Courtenay Place, which has become tired and run down in recent years.

The deal was canned in April after Wellington City Council announced it had ended negotiations with Reading International because it was unable to reach the best possible outcome for Wellingtonians.

At the time, Reading CEO Ellen Cotter said it would “take time to consider its options”.

“We have been wanting to redevelop the site and were encouraged when the council agreed to assist by buying the land for $32m and leasing it back to us. This was not what Reading considered to be a full market price, but was part of a package which included a buyback right.

The sale included the cinema complex and several adjacent sites, comprising 1.5 hectares of flat CBD land. Photo / JLL

Todd Lachlan, director of commercial real estate agency JLL, declined to comment on the sale.

The agency’s Wellington retail leasing director Jim Wana told NewstalkZB’s Nick Mills in November it was still working to get the project over the line, and a number of parties were engaged in negotiations.

Wana said at the time that JLL had been speaking to potential tenants.

Asked if a supermarket could go in the site, Wana said it was a “possibility”, as well as floating the idea of car parking and residential development.

He suggested the current Reading building would be redeveloped and begin operating again, calling that the “preferred view” of those involved.

Market sources told the Herald a number of developers were keen on the site, contributing to the long sale process.

The Wellington Company, as well as a smaller Auckland developer and international parties, are understood to have been part of negotiations.

It’s unknown what the sale price for the property was, but during negotiations Wellington City Council said the land under the building was recently valued at $31.9m.

When the site was first listed for sale, Whanau said she was pleased something was finally happening with the land.

“This is a great opportunity for someone passionate about Wellington to do something awesome with such a fantastic bit of real estate.

“I urged Reading to continue to explore development deals. This site has great potential and if Reading is unable to do that, I am very pleased that they are opening up the opportunity for others to do so.”

Aharoni, who featured on the NBR rich list at a net-worth of $550m, owns a number of prominent sites in the capital through Primeproperty, including a recent purchase of the abandoned Amora Hotel.

Wellington businessman Eyal Aharoni has purchased the Reading Cinema site. Photo / Supplied

Aharoni is a former Israeli army officer who came to New Zealand in 1988 to further a science career. He told NewstalkZB in March that he is one of the capital’s largest ratepayers.

In 2017 he was investigated and taken to the tenancy tribunal by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment after he admitted housing residential tenants in two empty Wellington office blocks.

Reading has been approached for comment.

Ethan Manera is a multimedia journalist based in Wellington. He joined NZME in 2023 and is interested in local issues, politics and property in the capital. Ethan is always on the lookout for a story and can be emailed at [email protected].