Major refit for leaky tower as investors head to court

By ANNE GIBSON and ALAN PERROTT

A central Auckland apartment tower is being repaired from top to bottom in one of the biggest cases yet of leaky building syndrome.

The Quest Auckland apartment-hotel tower on Queen St is being stripped floor by floor in an $800,000 repair job expected to take more than six months.

Stunned apartment owners in the 17-level building, which is only five years old, are suing the architect, the developer and the Auckland City Council for approving the faulty work.

Thomas O'Hanlon said he bought an apartment on the 14th floor for $194,000. He had spent $15,000 on repairs, which had swallowed all his expected rental income of $700-$800 a month for the past eight months.

"It's just a shattering blow I can tell you."

He would like to sell but estimated that the apartment would fetch only $115,000.

Another owner, Lou Carroll, lost about $160,000 when he sold his two apartments cheaply last year.

He got out because his health was affected by stressful battles with the tower's management and then the discovery of the building problems.

"When a building is signed off by an architect, construction company and the council, you assume you've got a building that's complete. I'll never put my money into a place like that again," he said.

When the Herald visited yesterday, most level 14 apartments were empty to allow for repairs to leaking balconies and windows.

Large sheets of paint have peeled off the tower's exterior. Three floors are wrapped in external plastic sheeting and most of the furnishings on level 14 have been removed.

Carpet is covered in plastic sheeting to stop further damage and floor coverings are rolled back to expose water damage around joinery. Sliding glass doors and windows have been removed from balcony areas.

One distressed owner, who did not want to be named, said water had poured in through the windows in an upper-level apartment and had seeped under doors. The owners, who live overseas for part of every year, were aghast when they returned to their water-damaged apartment.

Many of the units are owned by Asian investors living overseas.

Quest, which operates 2500 Australasian apartments worth $614 million, has five blocks in Auckland and three in Wellington.

Its Queen St tower has 70 studio, one and two-bedroom apartments, with nightly rates ranging from $186 to $326.

The apartment group says each "luxury apartment is tastefully decorated with quality furnishings and fittings".

Documents lodged with the Auckland City Council by building consultants Alexander & Co in March show the tower must be rebuilt from the top level down to the entrance canopy, with work on the 17th floor taking eight weeks.

The Quest Hotel is banned from operating on the floors while they are being fixed.

Malcolm Brown, of Brown Day Architects, confirmed that the apartment owners were taking legal action against his firm, which designed the tower, as well as Auckland City Council and Covington Group, which developed the Hartner Construction-built tower.

Mr Brown said his family owned an apartment on floor 14 but had no problems with leaks.

He disputed the massive amount of work being undertaken on the site and refused to move out while the floor was being stripped down.

Covington Group general manager Jim Speedy said his business was a party to the legal action, but questioned the need for repairs.

"It was a good-quality building.

"We were the developers, but we had project managers, a reputable architectural practice, supervision on the job and did everything we could to protect ourselves in terms of quality."

Quest's New Zealand managing director, Stephen Mansfield, said about 100 apartment owners had paid for an investigation of problems at the tower in the past year.

Having to close hotel rooms was damaging Quest's business, he said.

"We're coming up to the busy time in October-November, with the America's Cup as well."

Other prominent cases of leaking buildings discovered this year include the 153-home Sacramento development at Botany Downs, the 93-unit Summerfield Villas in Grey Lynn and Marion Square, a 40-unit apartment complex in inner-city Wellington, which was contaminated with stachybotrys, a toxic mould.

* If you have information about leaking buildings, Email the Herald News Desk or fax us on (09) 373-6421.