Beachcroft Residences' plans: how it's meant to be. Photo / supplied
Beachcroft Residences' plans: how it's meant to be. Photo / supplied
Buyers who want out of Onehunga's stalled $85 million Beachcroft Residences will be repaid their deposits in full, according to two people involved with the project.
Matt Currie, a director of Crux which is the six-level block's project manager, and Suzie Wigglesworth, Bayley's national projects director, said the money wouldbe repaid to those who wanted it.
"The purchasers will all get 100 per cent of their deposits returned to them," Currie said of buyers of the units where Teak Construction Group is leaving.
Wigglesworth said Bayleys had sold 60 of the 85 units in 2017 and 2018, taking 10 per cent deposits for apartments which sold from $750,000 to around $1.5m.
She said there was no question buyers who sought refunds would get their full funds repaid.
"It should give people confidence that there are developers out there who are prepared to refund deposits," Wigglesworth said.
Repayments would be made from a solicitor's trust account where the deposits had been safely held for the past few years, she said.
Some buyers had complained that having waited five years, Auckland prices had moved fast. They would still be sorely out of pocket because they will have to find another place to buy.
Beachcroft Residences as it looks today. Photo / supplied
Their hopes for a new home had been dashed, some said.
Deposits are understood to amount to about $5m.
Wigglesworth could not confirm that nor say which lawyer has the money.
But she said sunset clauses had been reached on contracts entered into between the Anne and Bruce Cleggs' Erson Developments and the buyers some years ago.
Those sunset dates fell at different times, depending on when contracts were initially struck.
"The sunset clauses were renegotiated several times - reached then extended," she said.
Not all buyers were disappointed about the situation. Some understood that large developments don't always go according to initial plans and were prepared to wait and settle once the building was finished.
"Not everyone is disgruntled," Wigglesworth said of some buyers who had empathy for the developers.
However, other buyers were most disappointed and felt let down, she acknowledged.
Buyers were mainly aged 60-plus and some were friends or associates of the Cleggs, she said.
Some Bayleys agents had also put deposits down on apartments.
Erson had gone to great lengths to accommodate individual buyer preferences and had communicated well, she said.
Earlier days on the site, last decade. Photo / supplied
Wayne Birchall, Teak managing director, said yesterday: "The major impact is really on the people who had already bought units."
He was referring to those who were disappointed in the lack of completion, due some years ago.
Work has stopped, very little happened in the past year, units are unfinished and the developers are advertising the partly finished shrink-wrapped block for sale.
The block is at 98 Beachcroft Ave.
Wigglesworth said Bayleys had kept in very close contact with all the buyers.
"We have been giving them regular updates. We are obviously quite devastated it's come to this. It's been a very long journey. We feel for the buyers. A lot of them are older empty nesters or downsized or retirees."
Bayleys had been dealing with the previous development manager, Roger Shepard, she said. Currie announced this week his business Crux was now taking a lead role as project manager on Beachcroft.
Wigglesworth said the Cleggs had also planned to move into the building, Wigglesworth said. The project was one which they had been extremely closely involved in.
Birchall said work had stopped due to problems obtaining a consent for the exterior facade. The metal roof had gone on but no windows were installed yet. The exterior facade was planned to be tiles, he said.
"There's no cladding on because we don't have a facade consent."
Asked why there was a problem being granted this consent, Birchall said he felt uncomfortable providing any further detail.
However, he emphasised subcontractors had not gone unpaid, nor was Teak owed any money. There were no financial issues with the project from his perspective, he said.
More than 20 workers had been on the site which has been secured and the building has been wrapped in plastic to protect it from the weather, he said.
