NZ Herald property editor, Anne Gibson, has given The Front Page an update on some key projects to make you celebrate, or cry.
Seascape, a 56‑level tower, has effectively stalled since August 2024; it stands unfinished with a towering crane.
“Unfortunately, people think it’s a good idea at night to scale that and hang off it with one hand to take a photo for Mum. I feel sick even saying those words to you.
“The receivers of the business that was developing that, Shundi Customs, what they have to do now is keep the site safe, keep those daredevil crane climbers off the site.
“I know one neighbour sent me photographs, and on the weekend sent me the correspondence with Auckland Council. He’s complaining that pieces of plaster are falling off the building, and he lives very nearby.
“Aside from having an empty building in Auckland of that height, an unfinished building, and a building where pieces of the building may be coming off, it is really worrying.
“I’ve called it Auckland’s first real ghost tower as well, and that’s what it is,” she said.
Gibson said there are three likely futures for the site from her perspective: for it to remain an unfinished shell, be sold and completed by new owners, or be dismantled floor by floor at an enormous cost.
Listen to the full episode to hear more about:
- Empty central city sites
- Auckland’s biggest office build
- Tenant-focused design
- The city’s ghost tower.
The Front Page is a daily news podcast from the New Zealand Herald, available to listen to every weekday from 5pm. The podcast is presented by Chelsea Daniels, an Auckland-based journalist with a background in world news and crime/justice reporting who joined NZME in 2016.
You can follow the podcast at iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
