The twisted tale of ‘Wellington sex trade entrepreneurs Michael and John Chow’ who want to locate a brothel across the road from Auckland’s landmark Sky Tower (!!) takes another turn.
BIG plans for Auckland. No thanks, boys. (pic stuff.co.nz)
Developers Michael and John Chow are planning to build a 10-storey super-brothel on the prime inner-city site once occupied by the historic Palace Hotel.
The “entertainment and hospitality centre” will have underground parking, a restaurant and bars and a rooftop swimming pool, as well as a “gentlemen’s club”.
Following a deal with the publishers of Penthouse Magazine, two floors of the building will be occupied by a Penthouse Club – where adult performances by models will “bring the magazine to life”.
The Chow Group have secured the Australasian rights to operate Penthouse Clubs, and the new Auckland club would be the first in the Asia-Pacific region.
However, Auckland Council spokesman Glyn Walters said no consent applications had been received for the new building’s construction.
A $200,000 bill the council sent to the Chows for the demolition of the Palace Hotel, located opposite SkyCity Casino, remains unpaid.
Read this article at the NZ Herald and this for some of the background on the buy-a-historic-building-then-renovate-it-so-incompetently-that-the-Council-orders-its-demolition-for safety-and-bills-you-$200,000-for-doing-so-then-you-announce-bigger-better-plans-that-will-need-Council-consent saga.
A Wellington perspective from the Dominion Post includes this gem:
Co-director John Chow said: “It was sad to see it [The Palace Hotel] torn down, but the new development will be better than ever and the entire facility will provide a level of entertainment and hospitality to an international standard brand new to Auckland.”
Oh gee whiz. ‘Better than ever’. Wow. Just what we need.
Is anyone spotting a pattern here? (Or is it a winning formula?):
The Chow Group runs a Wellington brothel and strip club and owns other property in the city.
The Historic Places Trust is still considering whether to prosecute the group for failing to seek an archaeological authority before demolishing the former Settlement Restaurant in Wellington in January. The building was demolished to make way for a proposed 12-storey apartment block.
Something about this project reminds me of Saffron. Hmm, obviously these guys have already got good lawyers. What they need is a good sales team. Any suggestions? {Cough, splutter}
Then there’s how they treat their staff http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/2330603/Hotel-boss-gets-120-000-after-unfair-dismissal
And their environment http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/4563590/Historic-building-demolition-debacle
And when they get caught with their hands in the cooky jar http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/4394751/Brothel-brothers-billboard-slams-council
I have personally seen vendors take less money for buildings rather than be seen to do business with these two brothers and their grubby industry.
Interesting… re your ‘cooky jar’ link, this:
… gives another side to the issues with the ‘forced’ demolition. Four hours is pretty fast!
But it’s hardly a ‘cookie jar’ event — to use your phrase — it seems to me.
The perils of reputation. Thanks. – Peter
So what do you think?
Did the brand new super city council try too hard to look as thought they were doing something about a dangerous building?
Or did they knock over a city treasure with little cause?
Or maybe they issued stern warning that these [allegedly] dodgy characters won’t get away with this sort of “Tom foolery” in Auckland?
[Comment: re the Council’s actions … Dunno. What I do know is that we do not need a (yes, perfectly legal etc etc ) brothel adjacent to the Sky Tower. In my opinion. – P ]
Hi Peter, when I saw this proposal I thought to myself, these guys are trying to get the council to buy the land off of them.
I don’t reckon they’ll put this up. 10 floors of brothel? They’d need hundreds of clients at any time to make it worthwhile. And no one else will lease space in a building like that.
I reckon they’re just being as provocative as possible to get rid of their bit of dirt to the council.
@David: Gee, Ha! I wonder if you’re right. Good thought.
Kind of a ‘Brer Rabbit’ strategy — “Oh we sooo loved that old building and we sooo love that newly-cleared site… please don’t take it off our hands…”
Make their ‘proposed use’ as unpalatable as possible … what a hoot. I wonder.
Update: re your comment. “And no one else will lease space in a building like that.”
Yes, having an office there would imply something about you, I agree. – P
According to this NZ Herald article by property editor Anne Gibson, the Chow brothers weren’t impressed that an earlier article in the Dominion Post ran a headline which referred to them as The Brothel Brothers…
Oh, well, they’ll be MUCH happier with this one…
Cheeky, Anne. I see what you’re doing there. – P