The Dunedin City Council has signed a deal to sell
Carisbrook, but the buyer and the price could remain under
wraps for months, Mayor Dave Cull says.
He confirmed yesterday the council had signed a conditional,
and confidential, agreement to sell the stadium to an unnamed
buyer.
Radio New Zealand reported the buyer was Calder Stewart. The
construction firm would not comment when contacted today.
The purchaser planned to develop the site for industrial use,
in keeping with its industrial zoning, Mr Cull said.
However, whether the deal would cover the debt still held by
the council, following its purchase of the stadium in 2009,
could not be confirmed yesterday.
The buyer had not yet been identified, and was conducting due
diligence before the deal went unconditional, Mr Cull said.
That could take ''weeks or months'', after which the sale
price and other details would be revealed, he said.
The news comes after councillors debated the merits of the
deal during a marathon three-hour session held behind closed
doors at the end of the public part of Monday's full council
meeting.
The public agenda listed ''property matters'' as one of two
items to be considered during the meeting's non-public
section.
The ODT understands two competing deals may have been
considered before a decision was reached by councillors late
on Monday.
Council acting chief executive Tony Avery and city property
manager Robert Clark did not respond to ODT calls yesterday,
and councillors were under instructions not to comment to
media.
The council bought the ground - together with surrounding
Burns St homes and land - for $7 million in 2009, but had
since sold the homes and half the Burns St car park.
That left the stadium, and the other half of the car park,
still to be sold, and about $4 million of the original $7
million cost of the purchase still to be covered.
In early November, Mr Clark confirmed he was in talks with
two ''substantial'' buyers, and was finalising a conditional
document with one that would require approval at a full
council meeting.
He hoped to secure a sale that would more than cover the
outstanding $4 million, but said price was ''always a
negotiating point until the deal is completed''.
The council had originally hoped to sell the ground by
October 1, 2011, to avoid accruing holding costs once the
Otago Rugby Football Union quit the site then.
That had not happened, and the bill from holding costs had
risen to about $200,000 by last November, Mr Clark confirmed.
Mr Cull yesterday confirmed a deal to sell the remaining half
of the Burns St car park was also under negotiation.
- chris.morris@odt.co.nz
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