The mortgagee sale of Dunedin's former chief post office is to be by tender.
Nationwide advertising of the building, which was to have been developed as a five-star Hilton Hotel, starts tomorrow as first mortgage lender, South Canterbury Finance, seeks to recoup $5 million from Auckland developer the McEwan Group.
Bayleys Realty is marketing the 1937 building, and tenders close at 4pm on March 25.
Developer Dan McEwan has previously said those who invested about $5 million buying 34 apartments in the failed venture would have to wait for anything left over from the sale once South Canterbury Finance had recouped its $5 million mortgage.
In information provided by Bayleys two titles are involved in the sale: the former post office, covering 1979sq m, which has a capital value of $4.85 million, and the 1023sq m car park at the rear, which has a capital value of $870,000.
The nine-storey former post office, which is registered with the Historic Places Trust as a category two building, has a floor space of 14,600sq m and comes with six lifts and four staircases.
Previous hotel developers have completed demolition work in preparation for construction.
Bayleys real estate agent Robin Hyndman said the size of the building and the uncertain economic conditions meant it could be difficult to sell, but he said those in the property sector were aware it was coming on the market.
The building closed as a post office in 1991 and in 1995 it was bought for about $2.5 million by Singaporean George Wuu for conversion to a 150-room hotel.
The project collapsed and in 2003 Te Anau businessman Geoffrey Thomson bought it for about $5 million, with plans to build a 180-room, four-star hotel before they too stopped, and it sold to Dan McEwan in August 2006 for $7 million.
Mr McEwan had proposed to build 30 apartments, 112 guest rooms, conference facilities, restaurants and retail areas before financial difficulties with the project forced South Canterbury Finance to take over possession.
