Wellington housing development remains on hold with no funding yet available

Tuesday, 15 September 2020

A construction date for a planned housing redevelopment in Wellington’s Mt Cook remains up in the air, with no money budgeted for the project.

Detailed design work for the Nairn St flats redevelopment was meant to be under way this year, but the project is now “under investigation”.

Tenants were removed from the social housing flats after they were declared earthquake-prone in 2017, with the 21 properties demolished last year.

Under Wellington City Council’s draft spatial plan, developments of at least six storeys will be permitted on the inner-city street, as they will be in much of the suburb.

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A council spokesperson said funding for the development would come from the sale of properties recommended for disposal by council officers.

The locations of those properties remain confidential while landlords and tenants are notified, with the list signed off in a public-excluded council session on Thursday.

However, the council could not confirm when the first of the properties was scheduled to be sold, or when the Nairn St development might go ahead.

“So far, the existing earthquake-prone flats have been demolished with the lower site repurposed as a temporary community green space.

“We continue to work closely with City Housing to investigate options and designs for redeveloping the site into housing that meets the needs of their portfolio, so at this stage we are not able to provide any additional information.”

The paper which went to councillors on Thursday revealed a decision on the site would be sought by the end of the year.

A similar redevelopment of flats in Harrison St, Brooklyn, had been delayed by a few months, and was now scheduled to be completed by early 2022.

Both developments are part of the council’s Housing Action Plan, which also includes the Te Kāinga CBD apartment conversion programme.

The first of those conversions – at the former Freemason House in Willis St – has also been delayed by a few months.

The council said late last year the former office buildings would be converted into apartments by the first half of 2021, but the paper revealed the council had yet to confirm a handover date with the developer, The Wellington Company.

Up to 150 people would be housed in 52 apartments in the converted building, to be known as Te Kāinga: Aroha.

Expressions of interest to let the apartments would be called for by the end of the year.