Building A which Canam left last week and where CMP has taken over. Photo/Dean Purcell
Building A which Canam left last week and where CMP has taken over. Photo/Dean Purcell
The first of the 246 new Alexandra Park apartments were scheduled to be finished by late 2016, according to marketing publicity three years ago, so the big Auckland project is running almost two years behind its original programme.
In 2015, this statement was published: "We're getting a lot of interest with our pre-registrations. We're on schedule for our show home to be open by early March, and successful buyers can expect to move in by late next year. So we're moving with pace and these are exciting times," says Alexandra Park CEO Dominique Dowding.
Blocks are up but yet to be finished. Photo/Dean Purcell
Dowding said there the first buyers would be moving in late 2016.
But today the project is a big construction site with towers up but buildings far from finished.
The Auckland Trotting Club, which owns Alexandra Park, issued a statement yesterday acknowledging delays.
It undertook extensive negotiations with Canam to find a resolution to contractor defaults, before it terminated Canam's contract on July 19, the statement said.
"ATC has complied with all of its payment obligations under the construction contract it held with Canam. Some delays have been incurred and have been communicated to residents. The new contractor CMP will assess the programme, and purchasers will be asked for an extension to their sunset dates. The new sunset dates will be communicated in due course. ATC has full confidence in the delivery of the project. The apartments sold out. Purchasers' investments are held in a trust, as is standard practice with every development," the statement said.
The construction job on Alexandra Park's carparking areas plans to bring 246 new units to the area and two construction companies are on site: Ganellen and CMP, which has taken over after Canam left.
Michael Doig, the New Zealand director of Ganellen, said today: "We are building 128 units. We are meeting our obligations with the clients. It's a large project. Both parties are comfortable."
246 units are being built at Alexandra Park. Photo/Dean Purcell
Doig refused to say whether Ganellen's two blocks are late, but said: "We are building B1, which is eight levels high, and B2, which is five levels."
Both blocks were up to the top floor but some steel work was being completed at the top, he said.
In 2015, Canam managing director Loukas Petrou said: "Canam have been in the business of construction for 60 years and we've got the right people and systems in place to deliver this much-needed project with absolute confidence. This is a large scale mixed-use development and we've had considerable experience in the residential, retail and commercial sectors. This first building will be a signature one and it will really set the tone of the entire urban village. We can't wait to get started.
The site on Greenlane Rd, bristling with tower cranes. Photo/Dean Purcell.
This week, Petrou said Canam was owed money and had left the site last week.
Ron Macrae, founder and managing director of the privately-owned CMP, which has taken over the 118-unit block Canam left, expressed confidence in his firm's ability to complete Building A.
"You'll notice some changes, you'll see it climbing into the sky," Macrae said of the tower.
