A 1930s’ mixed-use building in Wellington’s Cuba Precinct that has long-been a haven for artists and performers, and which recently featured in the acclaimed New Zealand drama series After The Party, is for sale along with an adjacent high-quality office building.

The two well-known properties at 13 and 17 Garrett Street, Te Aro, lie just off Cuba Street and opposite the revamped Glover Park. They are for sale together or separately giving investors and developers the rare opportunity to secure an aggregated footprint in a popular part of the city, where leasing activity has outpaced the wider market over time. The combined offering returns net annual income of more than $354,000.

The three-level masonry building at 13 Garrett Street was built in 1937 for Morrison’s printing business, with the name still featured prominently on the façade. There are two commercial tenancies at street level, and two substantial residential apartments above – one with six bedrooms and the other, seven. It has a total building area of 780sqm and sits on a 290sqm north-facing site.

This building is iconic in the inner city, with the two apartment floors renowned as magnets for creatives and students, with each residential floor leased to a head tenant. The ground floor tenancies have seen many retail iterations, recently housing The Fabric Store and People’s Coffee, and now occupied by specialty coffee and matcha bar Pour and Twist, and sustainable clothing thrift/consignment store Dirty Laundry.

While deemed safe to occupy, this building is yellow-stickered and is on the national register of earthquake-prone buildings, requiring it to be remediated by 2027 in line with seismic regulations. It delivers a strong net annual income of $138,700 plus GST, with the ground floor leases both including termination clauses for strengthening purposes.

Next door on a 488sqm site, 17 Garrett Street is a 1970s’ five-level 1,150sqm office building that has undergone upgrades, and is now regarded as one of the best-presented commercial properties in the area.

It features a refurbished foyer, newly-installed lift and a high-grade fit-out on each floor. The building is north-facing, has good natural light and includes a rooftop penthouse office with a balcony, and off-street carparking for nine vehicles to the rear. It generates net annual income of $216,000 plus GST across five tenancies with businesses including events management, brand strategists, audio post-production, and website designers.

Mark Walker and Sarah Lyford of Bayleys Wellington Commercial are marketing the two properties which can be purchased individually or together, with tenders closing 21st May.

Walker says the vendor acquired the two buildings over time, recognising the inherent value of a dual site in this location, but is now rationalising his property portfolio.

“This is an eclectic and distinctive area that has seen significant regeneration. The opportunity to acquire an aggregated site in the Cuba Precinct is really unusual and would give a new owner a valuable foothold in the area.

“The two buildings are each unique in their own ways, with 13 Garrett being a value-add proposition with a compelling backstory and having played a big part in the inner-city’s residential folklore.

“Meanwhile, 17 Garrett is an exemplary example of a well-presented and performing office building which has some of the city’s best fitouts and has seen strong occupancy levels. It is a standout offering in the area, with each of the main floors offering 198sqm high quality office space considered the goldilocks size for occupiers in this part of the city.

“There is intrinsic value in the properties individually, but this is compounded when considered as a package – particularly in light of the favourable City Centre zoning which has a 27m height limit overlay, and the location opposite Glover Park meaning future light and outlook are protected.”

The eclectic independent retail and hospitality precinct has seen recent Council-driven upgrades like the revamp of Glover Park, and improvements to the Swan Lane and Garrett Street links to Cuba Street to enhance the area’s attractiveness, walkability, and safety, says Lyford.

“There’s also been new business initiatives like The Intrepid Hotel and Puffin Bar in the former Cadbury Brothers Building on the other side of Glover Park, which has helped breathe new life into the precinct.”