Tradesmen busy again building Hotchin palace

Mark Hotchin's Paritai Drive mansion was a hive of activity yesterday. Photo / Dean Purcell

Work on Mark Hotchin's controversial $30 million mansion in Paritai Drive has picked up after a lull last month.

Building hit a hurdle for about a week in May while Hotchin was holidaying in Hawaii in an extravagant family getaway which angered investors in Hanover Finance, which he co-founded with Eric Watson.

Hotchin and Watson left more than 16,000 investors out of pocket when they froze $554 million of assets - but not before taking $91 million in dividends in the years before they began defaulting on payments.

People living near the Paritai Drive property - in an Auckland neighbourhood with some of the most valuable housing real estate in the country - said yesterday that there had been a constant flow of tradesmen for the past few weeks.

A Tuhaere St resident whose home overlooks the property said work now appeared to be constant.

"Every day there's been somebody there. I've heard drills, hammers and seen men coming and going, so there's something happening.

"There was a lull for about a week but it's gradually started up.

"I saw painters come, then ... they will go away and then somebody else will come."

The woman was not bothered by the site and said she had become used to the noise as work had been going on for three or four years.

"When we had the lull I thought, 'Oh, it's really quiet.' I think you get used to constant noise."

She does not feel the value of her home has been compromised, unlike others who feel the Hotchin property is an eyesore which has devalued their homes and blocked views.

The woman said one part of her harbour view had been lost but another had opened up because of the development.

"When you look next door to a house of that quality, how can you say the value's gone down? We've got the most expensive house in New Zealand ... I don't know if it's the biggest but someone said it was ... I think it's going to be pretty nice.

"We're jolly lucky having a view anyway. Anybody who's got a view anywhere in Auckland can have a great big high-rise next to them."

Another resident, who wished to remain anonymous, said it was hard to tell how many tradesmen were there each day because the site was so big that people could move about largely unnoticed.

It took a Herald reporter 110 steps to walk the length of the property and 65 to walk across its Paritai Drive frontage.

Large gates at the driveway which were open when the Herald arrived were quickly closed and padlocked by a tradesman.

There were at least four cars and three utility trucks parked in the drive at the upper entrance to the property yesterday.