New tenants are being sought for Christchurch’s central city post office building at Cathedral Square, following ongoing delays with The Grand hospitality development.

The Grand, which launched a crowdfunding campaign in 2020, initially garnered significant enthusiasm. However, the project has since faced multiple delays due to funding shortfalls.

Nick Doig, a retail broker with Colliers International, confirmed to chrislynchmedia.com that he had been instructed by the building owner [Gordon Chamberlain] to find new tenants.

The Grand was the vision of businessman Darin Rainbird. Through crowdfunding, members of the public were encouraged to invest in the development in exchange for shares or vouchers, with Rainbird retaining the position of majority shareholder. According to the Crowdfunding page, 203 people pledged $301,071.

The Grand included a downstairs bar-restaurant, a bakery, a café, an upstairs restaurant and wine lounge, an outdoor dining area, and a florist and gift store.

The last Facebook post on its page in February announced, “We are thrilled to share that big things are on the horizon. Get ready for some amazing developments that will take our journey to new heights! Stay tuned as we prepare to unveil what we’ve been working on behind the scenes. Trust us, it’s going to be worth the wait.”

A former worker told chrislynchmedia.com that Rainbird had emailed all staff in May, informing them that funding for the project had dried up. Despite this, in the email he expressed confidence that investment would come through.

“Some people stayed on while others had their jobs terminated,” the worker said.

Two weeks later, the worker received a notice instructing them not to return to work. They claimed they were owed $11,000 in wages since April, with promises of payment remaining unfulfilled.

“The entire situation is unacceptable. They had a barista painting instead of making coffee because the place couldn’t open. A chef was doing building work.”

The last email the worker received from Rainbird, dated 15th July and seen by chrislynchmedia.com, read: “I apologise again for the delay in getting you your wages. I have forwarded you our confirmation of investment and once we have the funds in hand we will have you fully settled up. I expect that to be within the next week and a half.”

The forwarded email from the investment company had offices in both Auckland and Australia according to its signature. The Australian address appears to be a  residential house, with no unit letter as shown in the signature, and there was no online record of the Auckland address.

When chrislynchmedia.com contacted the New Zealand number on the email signature, a woman answered acknowledging delays in the project but expressed continued confidence in The Grand.

When questioned about the business address in Auckland and Australia, the woman became agitated and abruptly ended the call.

Shortly after, chrislynchmedia.com received a text message from the same number saying “Hello [sic]  I do not give anyone my consent to share about the deal in Catheral. [sic]  I all ready checked with Darin and he did confirm that he did not talk to you or any reporters. So if you have my contact from the Landlord, you should know that he does not have any right to share about my contact or the deal. The landlord does not have my consent and we signed NDA with Darin that any disclosure to 3rd party will be seek approval.”

A minor shareholder in The Grand expressed his optimism for the project when he spoke to chrislynchmedia.com, saying, “It’s a fantastic concept and an excellent project, and I wish them every success, but another said “I am more than a little frustrated regarding the constant delays from the team at ‘The Grand’. I have been trying to gain updates from The Grand for the past year, however they have not been very forthcoming at all.”

Rainbird initially agreed to speak with chrislynchmedia.com on Thursday afternoon but later said he couldn’t talk about project until Monday.