Blocked view: Four-level mansion rising in front of $2m-plus apartments on Takapuna beachfront

A new, modernist four-level beachfront mansion, with a boat shed off the sand, is rising on a double waterfront site in front of some units at upmarket Takapuna apartments, blocking views from some $2 million-plus Sands places. Photo / Jason Dorday

A new, modernist four-level beachfront mansion, with a boat shed off the sand, is rising on a double Takapuna waterfront site — blocking views from some $2 million-plus homes.

Wealthy property investors David and Deirdre McAlpine are building the statement home, after winning non-notified consent, demolishing two existing buildings and replacing the existing beach boatshed.

Auckland Council consent documents show the modernist glass-and-concrete mansion is going up on The Strand for the couple, whose Kea Property Group has developed $1.2 billion of North Shore commercial buildings and is a major rugby sponsor.

Graeme Marwick, former body corporate chairman and a resident of The Sands off The Strand below Hurstmere Rd, estimated the views of about 12 units behind were affected by the McAlpines’ new house.

Plans for the two Takapuna sites on The Strand, outlined in yellow. Behind is The Sands apartment complex at 47 The Strand. Photo / Auckland Council

People living in the southern wing of The Sands would be the only ones affected once construction was complete, he said. An older and tall house had been on one of the sites previously and that had an effect on views so the development was a replacement, he stressed.

Most of The Sands’ units would be unaffected because the house was going up in front of only one end of the block, Marwick said.

One larger Sands apartment was valued about $6.5 million, while smaller places sell for about $2.5m to $3m, he said.

The McAlpine sites are on the northeastern side of The Strand, down from the roundabout that intersects The Strand, Hurstmere Rd and Anzac St.

Their development site is next door to the multi-level, much-patronised Takapuna Boating Club, at the northern end of the popular Takapuna beach reserve.

One North Shore resident said the new development had caused “considerable concern” for some Sands’ owners who would lose views and were worried about effects on values.

Apartment owners who were most affected had tried to negotiate to influence plans for the new building, he said.

The new home is rising in front of part of The Sands apartments. Photo / Jason Dorday

“There’s been about a two-to-three-year timeframe involved in all this. It’s been a gradual process, for better or worse.

“Suffice it to say, it was a tough outcome for that end of The Sands. Some mitigation was gained by the body corporate talking to the property owner,” said the North Shore man who had a connection to The Sands.

Marwick said owners and residents in the 33-apartment Sands complex always expected development of the neighbouring site, which once had a tall older-style weatherboard house with a steep A-line pitched roof on it.

The older-style white weatherboard house with a steeply pitched roof (centre) once stood on a McAlpine site at Takapuna. This image is from January 2020. The house has now been demolished. Photo / Google Maps

That was demolished to make way for the new McAlpine home.

Auckland Council consent documents show the McAlpine house has been designed by Daniel Marshall Architect and will have its own boatshed.

One site is 886sq m, while another is 942sq m and the house straddles both.

The new house infringes on permitted height-to-boundary standards, has a dwelling on the ground floor, brings a replacement boat shed within the coastal protection yard and works have to be conducted within the root zone of a protected coastal pōhutakawa, according to the application from Stellar Projects.

The Strand can be seen at centre of this image, with the huge new house now rising above Takapuna Beach. Photo / Jason Dorday

The replacement boat shed will be in the same location as the existing shed. It will be extended 2.25m west into the slope of the land and extended southward by 1.6m to occupy the area now containing the beach access steps.

The height of the seawall will be increased by 1.5m to 3.6m above the finished floor level. The boat shed will be built with precast concrete and have a timber-clad steel-framed door, the planners said.

Top landscape business Xanthe White Design completed the planting and concept plan, choosing appropriate coastal species including oioi, coastal immortality grass, prostrate taupata, kōhūhū, salt marsh ribbonwood, remuremu and Poor Knights lily.

The pōhutukawa between the new house and the sea is about 8m tall but has a canopy spread of 10m by 12m that must be protected.

Plans of the new McAlpine house. Image / Auckland Council

Council documents show Evan Jenkins representing 16 owners of The Sands raised several concerns about the four-level home.

He expressed concern about the “settlement effect arising from the excavation and lowering of the groundwater table beneath our property. There has previously been cracking in the floor slab of our basement carpark and we have a swimming pool located on the northern boundary of 41 The Strand which is also susceptible to cracking”.

“We are aware that settlement can be caused by water drawdown, which can have a wide impact beyond the boundary of the property being developed and we do not want existing cracking to be exacerbated or new cracking to the exterior cladding of our property,” Jenkins wrote.

Sands residents were also concerned about the potential for ground slumping caused by the relaxation of support to excavations or by inadequate support that could fail.

They have engaged a specialist geotechnical engineer to carry out a peer review of the settlement calculations and ground support proposals.

Jenkins also expressed concern about the free-standing concrete wall proposed on the western boundary and the southern boundary.

“From what I ascertain from the plans provided, this wall will range in height from 10m to 12m and will be approximately 3m from our eastern boundary and 5m from our building line. While we are aware that the proposed wall might comply with the current zone regulations in respect to height in relation to boundary, we are concerned about the shadow effect of this wall on our natural light, sunlight and the like, particularly on the ground-floor garden apartments,” Jenkins said.

Worry about the wall promoting a wind-tunnel effect was also raised. Arrangements for calculations had been made to be carried out by a specialist to determine the likely shadow effect to establish the impact on the mental wellbeing of affected residents, many of whom are elderly, he complained.

“Sunlight and fresh air are important considerations and we want to be able to make you aware of the likely impact,” he said.

The submitted assessment of environmental effects overlooked the effects on The Sands, Jenkins said, and the boatshed would go from 14.8 cubic metres to 90cu m. He believed it was an “unfair imposition” on the public to have to avoid the area when boat use was being undertaken.

Steller subsequently applied to vary the plans including reducing a wall height, adding a new privacy screening wall and replacing fencing with precast concrete walls.

Questions were put to the McAlpines about the new home, but no response was received.

Anne Gibson has been the Herald’s property editor for 23 years, has won many awards, written books and covered property extensively here and overseas.