Church buys former Copthorne Hotel site in Christchurch

Paul Martin

Millennium & Copthorne Hotels New Zealand Limited (MCK) and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Christchurch have announced that they have reached an agreement for the sale of MCK’s land at 776 Colombo Street, Christchurch, the site of the former Copthorne Hotel Christchurch Central.

The terms of the sale are confidential to the parties and settlement of the transaction will occur in late May 2021.

Late last year the church announced its plan to build a school, church headquarters, parking building, and a replacement for the quake-damaged Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament.

The new Catholic cathedral to be built between Victoria Square and the Avon River.

The old cathedral, on Barbadoes St, is to be demolished.

The church has already bought most of the land for the new precinct – which will occupy the block bordered by Colombo, Armagh and Manchester sts and Oxford Tce.

Bishop Paul Martin said the agreement ensured “that the diocese’s vision for the precinct on which the land is situated will now be able to be fully met.”

The new precinct will be built for the diocese by the Carter Group, which is progressively selling its own large chunk of land on the block, including the former PricewaterhouseCoopers site, to the church.

MCK Managing Director Mr BK Chiu has thanked the Bishop and his representatives for the constructive way in which negotiations were handled over the last few weeks.

The Bishop also acknowledged MCK’s cooperation to ensuring that the Diocese’s vision for the precinct on which the land is situated will now be able to be fully met.

Designs for the new cathedral and a timetable for construction are not yet completed.

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