Christchurch comes back

Wednesday 28th December 2011

Eastgate shopping centre has re-opened today, the last of Christchurch’s shopping centres to do so after Friday’s shake.

Countdown and the Warehouse along with shops not located in the main mall re-opened on Christmas Eve.

Both Countdown and the Warehouse had record trading figures for the day, Eastgate’s manager Graeme Roberts said in a statement.“Despite these big aftershocks, we’re happy to say that Eastgate can look after the community of east Christchurch.

The mall is fully re-opening today after some cosmetic repairs were completed over Christmas. The engineers report says all the buildings are structurally sound.

The quake caused all of Countdown’s supermarkets in the city except its store in Rolleston to close temporarily, but they are running again after its store in the Palms shopping centre re-opened yesterday.

The Palms shopping centre re-opened on Boxing Day after safety checks were completed on Christmas, with its Reading Cinemas remaining closed for the rest of the week.Northlands shopping centre in Papanui also re-opened in stages on Saturday, after being evacuated on Friday.

The south-west carpark will stay closed until structural damage to a neighbouring building has been assessed in detail.

The mall is owned by Kiwi Income Properties, which owns five other shopping centres throughout the country. February’s quake saw the company lose $52.1 million and the value of its total property portfolio was written down by 4% to $1.98 billion.

Eastgate is owned by National Property Trust, which has been forced to write off its Natcoll House building as irreparable, as it is in the Christchurch central business district red zone. It has been receiving payments under business interruption insurance to cover lost rentals at the shopping centre.

BusinessDesk.co.nz

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