A Reading deal that doesn’t cost ratepayers

NewstalkZb reports:

The derelict Reading Cinema complex on Wellington’s Courtenay Place has finally been sold, with a local developer snapping up the 1.5-hectare plot.

The property was at the centre of a controversial deal between Wellington City Council and Reading International last year, after the council tried to buy the land under the quake-prone building to incentivise development.

After that deal fell through, the site was listed for sale in July, with Wellington-based Primeproperty Group now the new owner.

Excellent – a commercial deal between two companies, without ratepayers providing corporate welfare.

Ironically this sort of deal would probably have happened years ago if the Council hadn’t kept offering wads of cash to the owners to reopen the cinema.