Seascape is on Auckland's Customs St East. Photo / Jason Oxenham
Who confirmed the structural integrity of Auckland’s towering Seascape? It wasn’t builder Icon but others, including the engineers Mott MacDonald, says developer Shundi Customs. And when will it be finished? Updates also from Precinct and apartments in Parnell, Pt Chevalier – all in today’s Property Insider column.
The developer of New Zealand’s tallest apartment tower has amended a statement updating the situation with the $300 million-plus 56-level Seascape being built at 83 Customs St East, Auckland.
This is the city’s second-tallest tower after the SkyTower, but the tallest in NZ to be available to live in.
Shundi Customs general manager Harrison Shao explained the situation, referring to “miscommunication”.
After saying very little about the project for months, a surprise public statement was issued on August 18.
That took some close to the project by surprise.
The statement was amended a day later.
The first, original statement said: “Icon Construction’s due diligence assessment, which commenced in April, has confirmed the structural integrity of Seascape, Auckland’s tallest residential tower.”
On August 19, a Shundi Customs spokesman said it was not Icon that had confirmed the building’s integrity.
Instead, that had been done by others, including engineers Mott MacDonald.
A second, amended statement said: “Icon Construction took possession of the site and commenced due diligence assessments in April. The structural integrity of Seascape, Auckland’s tallest residential tower, has been confirmed through site condition and inspection reports from the project’s design consultants.”
The timing of completion was changed between the first and second statements.
The original statement said: “Seascape is expected to be completed in approximately 18 months”.
But the amended statement said it would not be in 18 months’ time that the building would be finished because the clock would start when work inside resumed.
“Seascape is expected to be completed in approximately 18 months from the restart of fitout works,” the amended statement said.
Harrison Shao told Property Insider what had gone wrong.
“The miscommunication was between Shundi’s internal teams regarding content verification. Both teams assumed the content had been reviewed by Icon, which led to the corrections being required in order to better identify responsibilities,” Shao explained.
He sincerely apologised for the oversight and for any inconvenience it may have caused.
But surely a wider question deserved to be asked, and it is this: was Seascape’s structural integrity ever in question to begin with?
Shao also answered that question.
“Regarding the structural integrity of Seascape, we’d like to clarify that this has not been questioned by construction professionals, whether within the project or external experts.
“Our design consultants, of whom Mott MacDonald is one, are responsible for confirming the integrity of the structure as it stands today in order to provide certainty to the incoming contractor,” Shao said.
“The work these consultants have carried out is essential as it allows the incoming main contractor to have confidence in all aspects of the project they are taking on and to understand the work required to complete it.
“As for the fit-out work, it will commence following the completion of enabling works and any necessary remedial activities. These tasks are expected to take approximately two to three months.”
That would therefore put completion around April, 2027.
In a further update, units in the tower are being marketed again.
The Shundi spokesman said a quarter, which equates to about 55 apartments in the 221-unit, 56-level $300m building, remain unsold.
So now that Icon is considering signing the contract to complete the tower, a big push is on to get the remaining units sold.
Jillie Clarke, Shundi’s director of sales and marketing, invited people to an event tomorrow .
The developer planned a “pre-launch event for Seascape” on September 3, she said.
Speakers would present on behalf of Shundi, new builder Icon replacing China Construction, Bayleys and possibly architects Peddlethorp, her invitation said.
She also gave an update on where those remaining 55 unsold units are: levels eight to 20 and levels 41 to 45.
The top-level 51 penthouse, which is an entire floor, has been sold, she said.
Although the tower is 56 levels high, apartments have been built on only 51 of those floors.
Clarke said Seascape units for sale are:
Shundi won consent in September 2023 to be exempted from the foreign buyer ban. That meant it could sell Seascape units to overseas buyers.
Toitū Te Whenua Land Information New Zealand granted the exception certificate under the large apartment development category two years ago.
When Precinct Properties announced its FY2025 result last Wednesday, chief executive Scott Pritchard told Property Insider more about its plans.
NZ’s largest student accommodation block, rising at 22 Stanley St, will be 80% owned by Singaporean business Keppel, he said, and 20% by Precinct.
The new hotel in the twin-tower Downtown scheme will be 200 rooms, on levels nine to 21, with apartments above.
“The hotel plans are the result of selling the InterContinental Auckland.
“We were really encouraged by the sale price and interest we received from people looking for hotels in New Zealand and approaching us. That level of interest has encouraged us to have a hotel in the second tower and it really complements residential.”
In the next 12 months, Precinct hopes to sell half of the 40-level, $600m PwC Tower, yielding a possible $300m to plough into new schemes.
No separate floors will be sold, but half of the whole tower, he said.
Only commercial, not retail, is for sale.
Luxury apartment developer Martin Cooper was delighted with a big win for his 28-unit Parnell project One Saint Stephens.
That is the first property in Australasia to gain the globally recognised Well residence certification, he said.
Certification is by the International Well Building Institute.
The project is beside Holy Trinity Cathedral at the top of Parnell and has EV chargers and bike parks, and exceeds building standards to cut moisture and support thermal comfort.
Cooper said last month the penthouse floor remained for sale.
To meet the changing market, the floor has been split into two apartments:
He had originally been asking $22.5m for the entire floor, which has outstanding city views.
“I’m pretty confident we will get this sold in the next few weeks. There’s interest at the moment,” Cooper said.
Last Friday, Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown was due to visit one of Auckland’s few large-scale apartment projects, Chelsea Rise.
Visitors met at the showroom at 80 Mokoia Rd, then did a walk-through of the construction site.
Chelsea Rise is a 77-unit scheme at 76a and 82 Mokoia Rd.
Developer Darren Brown said work started there in March. About 45 workers are now on the site, but this will soon increase.
All foundation piles have been poured, bulk earthworks are complete, and basement panels are installed. A Smith’s tower crane is working on the site.
So far, deposits have been paid on 20 of the 77 units, starting from $729,000.
Four penthouses are for sale, with the top price $4.5m.
Marutūāhu and Ockham have invited people to the official opening of their two newest apartment buildings at 1 Carrington Rd, Pt Chevalier, on September 18.
Housing Minister Chris Bishop and Mayor Wayne Brown are scheduled to open Toi and Whetū.
The project has been backed by the Crown via an underwrite, helping those developers to get bank finance for consented, ready-to-start projects.
A minimum of 30 homes must be built to qualify, so the multi-unit schemes both won inclusion.
A Ministry of Housing and Urban Development spokesman said both Chelsea Rise and the two new Pt Chevalier apartment blocks got the underwrite.
Anne Gibson has been the Herald‘s property editor for 25 years, written books and covered property extensively here and overseas.