Mt Iron sale
Anderson Lloyd has recently completed the sale of the iconic property that is “Mt Iron” and “Little Mt Iron” on behalf of a client, which sees the guardianship of this special property passed from Allenby Farms Limited (Allenby) to the local council.
Allenby had originally purchased the Mt Iron property in late 1964 – also with the assistance of Anderson Lloyd. Records show that Laurie and Brian Cleugh of Allenby Farms purchased the land from Welsh farmer Herbert Reece on 7 November 1964, with Anderson Lloyd noted as the purchaser’s solicitors. Now nearly sixty years later, full circle has come, with the AL legal team assisting with the sale to council which was completed in late May 2023.
Kerry O’Donnell, partner in Anderson Lloyd’s Queenstown Property team and lead partner on this deal, said it was great to assist Allenby on this sale for a number of reasons.
“Firstly it has always been great to work with Allenby, a generational family company client, whom AL has worked with for many decades – AL is proud of its long association with the family, and was thrilled to be asked to work again on this significant sale.
Secondly, the property itself, which Allenby had seen itself as the guardian of since the 60s, is now safely in community hands. Allenby had spent countless hours over the years keeping the property free of weeds and wilding pines, while keeping access open for up to 180,000 walkers through the property per year. Allenby was clear at the outset that the ongoing community access and management of the property was a key component to the deal proceeding. We worked closely with Allenby to ensure that the property would be secured as a community asset, and managed by Queenstown Lakes District Council (QLDC) as a public reserve.”
The deal, which took more than 2 years to negotiate, reach agreement and settle, sees 67ha on the north, west and southern flanks of Mount Iron and land running along State Highway 84, plus an additional 27ha centred on Little Mount Iron transferred to Council ownership and held as reserve for community use.
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