Hobson Bay and the Ōrākei Basin. The upmarket apartments were developed in Ōrākei and sold off the plans. Photo / Richard Robinson
Hobson Bay and the Ōrākei Basin. The upmarket apartments were developed in Ōrākei and sold off the plans. Photo / Richard Robinson
The developer of upmarket Ōrākei apartments has had liquidators appointed after debts amounted to $3.76 million including $2.3m due to Inland Revenue.
Baker Tilly Staples Rodway Auckland said Ngaiwi Developments built the new apartments on Ngaiwi St in the upmarket suburb and sold all.
Yet Covid, the cooling market andrising construction costs all took their toll.
Sole shareholder and director Anthony Colebrook Stewart not only failed to make a profit on his apartment venture on Ngaiwi St.
His company recorded a substantial loss and still owes many parties money including real estate agents Barfoot & Thompson, whose agents marketed the new homes, two law firms, consultants, Vector, Watercare and Auckland Council.
A Google Street View image showed a Sorenson Build’s sign at the front of the site in June 2022.
However, a check with that business resulted in the Herald being told the company was not a creditor. Sorenson is not a creditor in the schedule on the liquidators’ initial report.
Ōrākei Wharf and Bastion Point in the area where the new apartments were built.
The liquidators explained what went wrong.
“The company was incorporated as a special purpose vehicle to undertake a subdivision and development of an apartment building in Auckland, which was completed with the last apartments being settled in November.
“The company’s failure resulted from financial losses caused by unexpected increases in construction costs and delays caused by the Covid pandemic, together with a cooling property market during 2023,” the initial report said.
It was posted on the Companies Office overnight.
James Kellow, a director of lender NZ Mortgages & Securities, said it was always sad to see a company in liquidation.
“Ngaiwi was a Covid project: five luxury apartments and a section for around $20m. The presales were all at pre-Covid pricing and the development has been affected by delays, cost increases and material shortages. The apartments were completed late 2024 and the developer was able to complete the presale contracts,” Kellow said.
NZ Mortgages & Securities is a private business with significant shareholder equity and no external investors, he said.
“We actively lend to medium and large scale property development projects with $300m committed for new 2025 lending. With scale comes some risk, but also opportunity.
“Our clients have always benefitted from our financial strength and proven history of supporting development through all financial conditions,” he said.
The liquidation report showed Barfoot & Thompson’s branches in Mission Bay, Parnell and St Heliers appear on the schedule of creditors. Agents at those branches marketed the five apartments, saying they had “grandstand views selling at incredible value”.
One agent recorded a pre-sale off the plans in January, 2021.
The Heraldreported this week that the real estate market peaked around October, 2021 and in Auckland values fell 19.2% from then till December last year.
Quotable Value information showed declines throughout New Zealand with Wellington values down 23% from late 2021 till last December.
The liquidators’ report on Ngaiwi Developments showed law firms Chapman Tripp and Hesketh Henry appearing as creditors along with SCD, valuers Seagar & Partners, IRD, NZ Mortgages & Securities, Alarm NZ and Carters Building Supplies.
Construction cost management company Barnes Beagley Doherr, building service engineers 22 Degrees, steel company 80 Structures, resource management consultants Bentley & Co, land development service business Churchill LDS, and photo and production business Incredible Images appear as being owed money too.
Crockers Body Corporate, Dig Once, Electrical Consulting Services, EarCon Accoustics, structural engineers AMX Structures, OnFire Consulting, advertising business Shout Media, Traffic Planning Consultants, geotechnical engineers Geocult and Novo Flowtec Services also appear.
In September, the Herald reported the number of insolvencies for New Zealand companies in the second quarter of 2024 was the highest in eight years, new data shows.
Between April and June there were 700 insolvencies reported, up 23% from the first quarter of the year and 36% higher than the same period a year ago, according to the latest BWA Insolvency Quarterly Market Report.
This was the highest single quarter since Q2 in 2016 (798).
There were 635 liquidations in the second quarter of the year, up from 472 in the same period last year.
BWA Insolvency principal Bryan Williams said the data underscored the ongoing challenges faced by New Zealand businesses.
“While we anticipated a rise in insolvencies, the scale of the increase has been significant,” Williams said last year.
The next Ngaiwi Developments report is due in six months and that could show more information.
Previous images and a video in this article have been changed.
Anne Gibson has been the Herald’s property editor for 24 years, written books and covered property extensively here and overseas.
