Newspaper Article – Developer planning to bring Albert Hotel back into shape

Developer planning to bring Albert Hotel back into shape

GLEN PRENTICE

Hastings property investor Ray Durney intends to breathe new life into one of the city’s most historic buildings.

He bought the Albert Hotel, on the corner of Karamu Road north and Heretaunga Street East, last month and has plans to restore it to its former glory, quashing speculation the weatherboard hotel would be demolished to make way for a large-scale retail development.

“Our interest is to bring the building back to a good state of repair. We intend to upgrade the building over a number of years,” Mr Durney said.

Work would begin immediately on repiling the building and upgrading its casino area. The hotel would be re-roofed within five years and the exterior tidied up.

Features that were not in keeping with the building’s style would be changed, he said. The revamp is expected to cost about $200,000.

Mr Durney said he initially bought the building with the intention of demolishing it but changed his mind when he realised its potential.

“We were looking at the whole block for development but after looking at the hotel we decided it was too good to demolish.”

He said the pub had its own niche market. “It works well so why change it?” he asked.

Photos documenting the hotel’s long history would be a feature of the upgrade.

“It will be what it is but in a better state of repair so that people will want to photograph it.”

Photo caption – RAY DURNEY with plans to upgrade Hastings’ Albert Hotel.   HBTODAY PICTURE: ANDREW LABETT