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Martin Cooper with a model of the new apartments in Parnell. Photo / Jason Oxenham

Rich people, it appears, need more carparks than most of us. And they need to be bigger.

While some developers like Ockham Residential are building apartments without a single carpark, a $60 million Parnell project has gone to the other extreme, providing 78 car parks for just 27 units: an average of nearly three parks per apartment.

High-performance low-slung vehicles won't scrape the ground getting into and between levels of One Saint Stephens on St Stephens Ave.

Developer Martin Cooper said work was undertaken with luxury car dealer Giltrap's to design the gradients to ensure sports cars were accommodated in his plans. Giltrap's award-winning $40m 119 GNR building on Great North Rd has the same ramps, also designed for luxury vehicles.

"Exists, entrances and ramps have been designed to accommodate low-clearance performance vehicles," Cooper said, inviting the Herald on Sunday to tour a display suite.

"... the garaging will remind you of a luxury car showroom while still offering secure parking and storage facilities," the apartment's marketing says.

An on-site car grooming bay with an enclosed car wash will be built and personal storage rooms will be more than cages: "Stuff for the grandkids, Christmas decorations, tools for the car or boat" will be offered with shelving.

At 2.7m, each car park will be slightly wider than the standard 2.5m, Cooper said. Each vehicle will appear like an artwork with its own spotlight in the basement, Cooper said - a gallery honouring carparking. And electric chargers? Just tell him in advance and Cooper will ensure your charger is ready in your bays.

Appliances will all be from Germany's Gaggenau and Cooper said this would be New Zealand's first "Gaggenau apartment" because not only fridges and ovens but even washing machines and driers will be made by the Germans.

The exterior stone cladding will be the same as on Auckland Art Gallery and also be imported from Germany: two-thirds of the exterior will be light-coloured limestone and a third black glazed bricks.

A 10.6m x 3.6m inground heated exterior pool, spa, owners' dining room with its own kitchen are other luxury offerings in the new block.

The Parnell project aims to be New Zealand's most luxurious new apartment building. Cooper is developing it with Mike Sullivan's Countrywide Residences.

Twelve apartments pre-sold off the plans for an average of $5 million.

It is beside the Anglican Cathedral and Cooper has partnered with Mike Sullivan's Countrywide Residences to develop it.

All up, 27 apartments are being built on the former site of two old wooden houses between Brighton Rd and St Stephens Ave and deposits had been paid on 12 of those, averaging $5m each. Sales agreements had been struck from $2.5m to $10m, he said.

Countrywide Residences and Experiences by Coopers bought a 175-year ground lease from the neighbouring Holy Trinity Cathedral for the project to go ahead.

New construction was not without controversy: heritage advocates decried the Anglican Church's plans to demolish two century-old Parnell homes but the church said at the time it needed to remove the buildings so it could lease the land for development to earn money for the upkeep of other buildings.

In 2019, Parnell Heritage co-chair Julie Hill said some were upset by imminent plans to demolish the pair of two-level wooden neighbouring homes at 1a Brighton Rd and 9 St Stephens Ave, beside the Holy Trinity Cathedral.

But the church told parishioners all 17 protected trees on the sites would be kept, the homes were not listed as heritage and it was not economically feasible to keep them because refurbishment to a commercial standard would be so expensive.

The developers built a scaffold tower on the site so buyers could get an idea of views from the new apartments.

The joint venture previously set a New Zealand apartment price record recently, selling the penthouse of Elm Remuera on Orakei Rd for $16.5m. Nick Goodall of CoreLogic said that was higher than any other apartment sale in this country.

Cooper said the feedback he was getting in the luxury apartment market was that people wanted bigger places than were being offered previously.

Elm apartments were 110sq m to 211sq m each, whereas One Saint Stephens apartments are 145sq m to 256sq m each, he said. Buyers are often aged in their 60s and 70s, selling a large Remuera home but wanting to stay in the general area. The spectre of ongoing maintenance of their homes, expenses, upkeep and the amount of time it took to look after older places meant they gravitated to apartments.

Parnell's body corporate fees will be in the region of $13,300/year.

Simon Elvidge and Mark Shearer of +Map Architects designed the building, which was approved on a non-notified basis even though it was six levels on a site that was zoned for five at the time. Cooper said new more liberal planning regulations introduced on August 18 meant six levels were now allowed on the site.

"We had the written approval from most of the neighbours," he said, telling how people in the area had been approached directly.

Cooper said he had also engaged with Heritage New Zealand due to the site's historical importance. Feedback from the local community had been positive, he said.

But he does acknowledge that at the prices being charged, the market is constrained: "There are not a lot of buyers at the top end."

Mike Sullivan of Clearwater Construction said the Parnell development was the highest quality project his business had embarked on.

Cooper said construction of the apartments was due to be completed by late 2024.