Thompson Property Group Purchases Downtown Arcade

Nelson businessman Gaire Thompson has purchased the SIT Arcade and is hoping some new tenants will give the mall a bit of a lift.

A key CBD location that links Invercargill Central’s new city block development on Esk St with the Langlands Hotel, Gaire said, when contacted, as a property owner of 33 Don St already and therefore currently users of the mall, it made sense to purchase it.

The three-storey building also has basement parking for both customers and staff, and SIT put the building on the market initially in May 2022, but Thompson Property Group’s inital offer fell through.

The Southern Institute of Technology has owned the 25 Don St property since 2001, but no longer has any use for its downtown campus.

Gaire said he was looking at getting more tenants in the empty shops to brighten the place up, and make it look more active.

He was currently in talks with a business owner who was looking at using some of the office space, but there was still room for another hairdresser or barber, and is hopeful a cafe could occupy the space at 33 Don St.

“It’s a good site for a cafe, that could open on the same night’s as the theatre is operating,” he said.

Thompson Property Group will take over ownership of the mall at the end of March, and also bought the Invercargill Railway Station in September 2021, with one or two new tenants lined up for the ground floor of the building, he said.

The company also sold the Menzies Building to local businessman Geoff Thomson for his 4.5 star hotel, and owns properties in Christchurch, Dunedin, Nelson, Palmerston North, Tawa, Porirua and Timaru.