Sir Peter Jackson and his partner Dame Fran Walsh. Photo: RNZ / Alexander Robertson / AFP / Ana Elisa Fuentes / Getty Images
A popular Wellington café said it will be forced to close next year after the property's high-profile owner, Oscar-winning filmmaker Sir Peter Jackson, ended its lease as part of a wider redevelopment plan.
Jackson, best known for directing The Lord of the Rings films, purchased the historic Submarine Barracks property at Shelly Bay with partner Dame Fran Walsh in 2023.
At the time, the couple said they wanted to restore the area's "natural beauty".
The Chocolate Fish Café, which operates from the historic property, said it was informed this week that its famous landlords would end the lease in January, calling it a "devastating blow".
"Despite our requests, we haven't yet been given the opportunity to speak with Peter and Fran directly, and we are asking for that chance," the café's owners owners John and Penny Pennington said in a statement on social media.
"After 15 years of building this community together, we don't want the laughter of kids on bikes, the joy of giving well-behaved dogs their TUX biscuit, the clink of coffee cups, or the sight of big bikes leaning outside to simply disappear forever.
"We don't want to be forced to close. We don't want to be shut down.
"We want the chance to keep going-or at least to say goodbye properly with one more long, beautiful summer."
The Chocolate Fish Café at Shelly Bay. Photo: Supplied/Google Maps Street View
The post on Instagram, entitled "Don't let this be the last summer at Chocolate Fish Café", said another longer more detailed post would be provided soon.
WingNut PM, the property arm of Jackson and Walsh's WingNut Group, said there had been "occupancy discussions" with the cafe's owners since 2024.
The redevelopment plan was intended to "reinvigorate the city and provide a public amenity for all Wellingtonians to enjoy", the company said in a statement to the Herald.
"To deliver on the vision a complete refurbishment of the historic Submarine Barracks building that the Chocolate Fish Café presently occupies is necessary."
The renovations would make it impossible for the café to continue operations beyond January and its owners had been offered support so it could remain open into the summer period, the statement added.
- AFP
