As they say in the house and land valuation business, “Stay the hell away from OTN.” Our guesstimate of the small deco-style building that is to be sacrificed for the Len Lye Center in New Plymouth was $250,000. Now sources in New Plymouth (thanks, you know who you are) tell us that in fact the property was purchased for $804,375. This is an embarrassing half a million dollars more than we guessed and even the current rateable value of $580,000 puts our valuation skills to shame.
As to the 1990s addition that is to be demolished and replaced, it's valued by the Taranaki Regional Council at $2.39 million excluding the land value of $610,000. And if you are wondering how much the New Plymouth District Council puts up for the Govett-Brewster each year (and who doesn’t?), in 2011 it was $2.415 million. That's more than twice the $1.017 million they coughed up in 2009.
