Whanganui District Council tells absentee owner of heritage Hallenstein's building to make more repairs

Whanganui District Council says its building control team is closely monitoring the Hallenstein's Building.

A heritage building in central Whanganui is deteriorating, with its veranda starting to break away - but officials are yet to classify it as a dangerous hazard.

The Class B heritage Hallenstein's Building on the corner of Victoria Ave and Ridgway St is owned by William Cheng, who lives in Singapore.

Its state of disrepair prompted Darrell Smith, owner of clothing store Andersons, to move out of the building in April last year, citing a lack of maintenance over eight years and a dangerous veranda.

At the time, the Whanganui District Council was considering issuing a dangerous building notice but the owner eventually engaged a contractor to make interim repairs to the veranda.

"Temporary repairs were completed after the council contacted the building owner last year," building control team leader Greg Hoobin said this week.

"The building is currently in a similar state to previous visits, apart from a corner that is now starting to break away.

"A dangerous building notice has not been issued but we are monitoring the building closely and the building owner will be contacted and asked to repair this area.

"If repairs are not done or the building deteriorates further, the council is likely to take more formal action."

Part of the deteriorating veranda.

Council staff first made contact with Cheng on September 18, 2017 after they became aware of the veranda's state of disrepair and there has been ongoing correspondence about repairing the building.

There is no obligation under the Building Act to maintain a building, other than ensuring it does not cause injury or death.

The council has asked the owner to repair the veranda of the prominent central city building.