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A support centre that has helped thousands of people in Queenstown is appealing for the community’s help to find a new home.
The property occupied by Happiness House has sold for more than $4 million and the service’s lease there is set to expire in 2028.
Happiness House Trust chairwoman Jen Geale confirmed trustees were actively looking for new premises.
‘‘Our lease is in place until October 2028 and will not be renewed beyond this date,’’ she said.
‘‘Knowing that our lease will end at that time has allowed us to start planning early for a move.
‘‘We need our community behind us to help us see what’s out there, where are we going to be, into the future.’’
Happiness House offers free food, low-cost clothes, advocacy and spaces for social connection.
It has been located near Queenstown Gardens for two decades.
At a community meeting on Thursday, Ms Geale appealed for anyone with leads, ideas or spare land to help ensure the centre remained open, the pantry stocked and the kettle on.
Fifteen thousand people visited annually and demand was growing, she said.
A move away from the town centre to an area such as Frankton was being explored.
‘‘We’ve done quite a lot of thinking about what a new home would ideally look like,’’ Ms Geale said.
The trust was ideally seeking land to build on or a new lease of at least five years, she said.
The irony of the trust having to find a path forward amid high property costs and other challenging conditions was not lost on Ms Geale.
‘‘A large part of why we exist [is that] the people we’re supporting are experiencing the challenges of living here linked to real estate. And here we are experiencing the same thing.
‘‘But there’s a circularity to it. We’re community supporting community — they walk in to get support and now we’re doing the same, putting it out there and saying we need something.’’
The Park St property on the doorstep of the central business district sold for $4.080m.
Nine years ago, it was sold at auction for $2.213m.
Ray White salesman Pieter Werbrouck, who marketed the property alongside colleague Hitesh Talreja, said its recent rezoning, allowing potentially greater height and density, was attractive to developers.
However, the Australian buyer was not a developer.
‘‘They bought it, really, as a land-banking opportunity’’.
Most of the 30-plus inquiries had been from Australia, Mr Werbrouck said.
‘‘That area of town, so close to the CBD, has become a very desirable pocket of town for Australian buyers.’’
Happiness House originated in the living room of its founder, Pat Bird, in 1991.
Verona Cournane, who was a trustee for 25 years, said the town had grown at a breakneck pace, but the needs identified were still the same.
‘‘It can be a very lonely town to try and find where you fit in,’’ she said.
Happiness House’s newly appointed manager, Francisca Retamales, said many people came for the op-shop at the front of the building but ended up staying for its other services, such as financial advice or free produce. — RNZ with additional reporting by Allied Media
