Chancery Chambers, ADLS’ heritage building in downtown Auckland, has gone on the market this week.

This follows a vote by members who last November gave the ADLS Council a strong mandate to sell the building. ADLS has owned and occupied Chancery Chambers since 1989.

The sale process is being managed by Whillans Realty Group. The building is for sale by tender, with tenders closing at 4pm on 17 March (unless sold prior).

ADLS President Marie Dyhrberg QC says feedback from members who voted in favour of the sale was that it should be completed as soon as possible. “It is imperative that we move quickly. We don’t know what the market’s going to do so let’s get on with it.”

Promises had been made to members “and we’re fulfilling them”, Dyhrberg says. “One was to curtail expenditure that would not be recovered and to have the resources to then seek out a fit-for-purpose premises that will suit the current and future needs of ADLS.”

Chancery Chambers, built in 1924, comprises 3,580 square metres of lettable space, spread across eight levels overlooking Freyberg Square, in the centre of Auckland’s legal and financial district. It includes a 191-square-metre fully landscaped outdoor rooftop area, with adjoining meeting and function rooms. It sits on a 610-square-metre freehold site.

Previously, the site was the home of the first residential building in Auckland when Sir John Logan Campbell built Arcadia Cottage on the property in 1841. Arcadia Cottage was moved to Cornwall Park in 1920 and remains the oldest residential building in Auckland.