The demolition of Petone’s century-old tobacco factory is almost complete, reports Stuff.

The tobacco plant was one of New Zealand’s last large-scale tobacco factories, opening in 1919 by WD & HO Wills. It was then bought by Imperial Tobacco in the 1990s, which operated the plant until it closed in September 2020, with the loss of 122 jobs.
The 2.25 hectare site was bought by developers Richard Burrell and Craig Stewart, who are splitting the site between a modern housing development and business park, the report said.
It will take another month to completely remove the material from the site – but stage one construction on both the housing and business park has already begun. Two and three-bedroom units are being built, mostly priced between NZD 900,000 to 1 million (USD 630,500 – 700,500).