After a $163 million law suit, multiple liquidations and years of legal wrangling, one of New Zealand’s largest building remediation projects has finally been completed. Queenstown’s Oaks Shores Resort — which saw owners lodge one of the country’s biggest leaky-building claims — has now been fully repaired and opens next month as “premium lifestyle hotel”, Avani Queenstown. It was built in the mid-2000s, and apartment owners sued Queenstown’s council and other parties, including architects and structural engineers, in 2015 for $162.9m after water and structural issues were uncovered. The developer behind the project, Invercargill’s Ross Wensley, could not be sued as six of his companies had been placed in liquidation. The parties settled in 2022 for a confidential sum which was enough to impact rates bills. By then, the first block of the 83-unit complex had been repaired. The second block was finished in 2023, and now the final two blocks have been completed — the fourth block includes the reception area, restaurant and other facilities. For the first three blocks, about 20% of the repair cost was footed by the government’s leaky-home financial assistance package. Body corporate chairman Graeme Kruger said despite ratepayer and taxpayer assistance, the 73 owners still had to pay out sums greater than what they had originally paid — apartments originally sold, in the main, for about $700,000 to $1.1m. “The owners have gone through a very, very tough process of having to dig very deep into their pockets for a second time. “So what we’ve got is a building one could say is what should have been there in the first place. “I would argue it’s almost a complete rebuild — it was down to bare concrete, and we’ve had to do some structural repairs as well.” [Missing Credit]New amenity: Six to Midnight, Avani Queenstown’s new all-day dining venue, overlooks Frankton Arm. Photo: Supplied Mr Kruger paid credit to the owners and the body corp committee. “The way we’ve viewed this is we’re all in this together, and we’ve just got to equally share the pain across the complex, and equally share all the wins proportionally, which we’ve done.” He said as part of the remediation process, owners purchased two apartments on the sixth floor for a small meeting room and a gym, while the management company turned a manager’s unit into a high-end spa. Remediation of another leaky Wensley-built apartment complex, the 41-room Oaks Club Resort, for which the council stumped up $40m in 2021 to settle another claim brought by owners, is nearing completion. It is due to open on December 20. scoop@scene.co.nz
