Rainbow Properties

"The leisure business was providing a healthy cashflow but Heatley was already looking farther afield. While one of the main reasons for floating had been to raise money to pay back high-interest borrowings, in the back of his mind he had hoped that if the park was successful it would embolden his colleagues to consider other investments. He and the other directors knew that the leisure industry had a natural cap in a city with a relatively small population. It was hard to see what more could be wrung out of Rainbow’s End. In July 1986 the leisure side of the business was split off as Questar Corporation, which planned to look offshore for further sporting/leisure and tourism opportunities. It was majority-owned by Rainbow but listed separately on the stock exchange. An ill-fated foray into commercial property, Rainbow Properties, which developed the Majestic Centre in downtown Wellington, was also spun off from Rainbow with Ken Wikeley as managing director."

"Commercial property investor Sir Bob Jones is scathing about Rainbow Properties and says the company had no idea what it was doing. He says people are inclined to think that the commercial property field is simply a matter of bricks and mortar, but to invest successfully involves an understanding of intangible things including history and context. His company has worked out its own formulas, he says. ‘We’ve found it terribly easy to make vast sums of money. Some years after Rainbow Properties had gone, Craig said to me, “You know, I never really understood commercial property. I just don’t get it.” It’s a very revealing remark. Craig is sort of black and white. He’s a puritan. It’s hard to imagine him running rampant in any sense. He’s always under control. And I don’t think it’s because he is concerned about what people think, he’s just highly self-controlled and is probably quite content with life. He’s low on ego count.’"