The Court of Appeal has dismissed an appeal by the 70-plus owners’ body corporate of last year’s High Court decision, which denied them a $3 million payout from the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) to help remediate the last leaky building.
The decision is the latest chapter in the owners’ efforts to remedy a litany of weathertightness and other building defects that emerged in the 83-unit lakeside complex, which sits below Frankton Rd, soon after its completion 19 years ago.
Body corporate chairman Graeme Kruger said they were disappointed, but believed there could be grounds for pursuing the case in the Supreme Court.
They were waiting for advice from their lawyers before deciding whether to pull the trigger.
The body corporate had asked the High Court to decide whether a 2016 decision by the MBIE, which cost the owners a 25% government contribution towards the estimated $12m cost of remediating block 4, was lawful under the Weathertight Homes Resolution Services Act.
The court backed the MBIE, saying the ministry had correctly excluded the building from eligibility for financial assistance because its main use was non-residential.
Although block 4 contains several apartments, the rest of the building consists of a reception area, restaurant and other facilities.
Mr Kruger said they believed the Court of Appeal had made an "error or oversight" in its reading of the evidence.
"So our next decision is whether or not we contest this technicality, or whether we just take it on the chin and move on."
The body corporate got the government funding assistance for the work on the other buildings, and hoped to have "just enough" to complete all the remediation work without the extra $3m.
"We’re close to the wire. There’s always stuff that comes when you’re demolishing and rebuilding but our estimates are that we’re on track."
He emphasised the legal battle had nothing to do with the council, with which the body corporate settled out of court in 2022 for a confidential sum.
Meanwhile, work on blocks 3 and 4 was expected to be finished by the middle of next year, after which the latter would be fitted out and operating by the end of next year.
"We’re all very much looking forward to it — we want to showcase this property to the world."
