Back in 1998, I purchased a suite of offices in the central Auckland business district. Specifically, a very sunny corner suite on level 4 of the Lister Building. Located on the corner of Lorne and Victoria Street East, I sublet the space to a variety of tech, marketing and consultancy entrepreneurs.
Previously operating from Ponsonby, my Auckland freelance graphic design studio (incorporated 1994) was, by then, well-established in the professional services sector. I wanted a permanent custom studio to invest ing, and in order to continue working from. Envisage Design studios spent 10 incredibly productive years in our funky Lister Building office suite.
The Lister Building
This historic building is located on the corner of Lorne and Victoria Street east, directly opposite Auckland’s fashion mile; High Street. The intersection (only 5m from the main entrance) is said to be the busiest pedestrian crossing in New Zealand.
I freelanced in the suite for over ten years while subleasing spare rooms to lucky clients and talented associates. For anyone who is serious about making a long-term commitment to freelancing, I can highly recommend this investment strategy.
In 2007 when I moved to NZ’s creative capital, Nelson Tasman, my investment holding company temporarily leased the entire space to the The Diana Malin Art Gallery.
The Lister Building has now been mostly converted to trendy residential apartments. Few business still operate this historic building. I sold the suite in 2010 to a chap who converted the offices (and large common area) into a trendy ‘New York loft’ style residential apartment.
See the Lister Building mentioned recently in the NBR’s Private Bin column.
