IRD backs off liquidation of 14 McKenna companies

14 Beaumont St does not have code of compliance. Photo / Herald on Sunday

The Inland Revenue Department has withdrawn its applications to liquidate 14 of embattled property developer Nigel McKenna's companies but it did have a 15th McKenna entity liquidated - Melview Halsey.

The company's lawyer, Rob Hucker, told the High Court on Friday all the proceeds from the sale of an investment property had gone to its bankers with nothing left for the tax department.

McKenna has been under fire on a variety of fronts in recent months. Two of his companies associated with the luxury Kawerau Falls hotel development near Queenstown are in receivership.

Fletcher Construction Group is seeking to bankrupt him over $800,000 it says it is owed for building Wellington's $100 million Holiday Inn Hotel.

The McKenna company, which developed the site, was placed in receivership and liquidation in November, and investors in the hotel have chased McKenna's Galway Hotel Management (Wellington) - one of the companies in IRD's sights - for outstanding investment payments.

Investors in his $130 million Westin Hotel development on Auckland's waterfront have also complained about overdue returns.

Meanwhile, an Auckland building owned by another of the companies targeted by IRD, Melview Beaumont Quarter, is sitting empty, despite having been completed for about a year.

Auckland City Council has confirmed 14 Beaumont St does not yet have code of compliance even though it has passed its final inspection.

The building has commercial space at street level with 12 apartments above and is part of the Beaumont Quarter residential development, another McKenna project.

A spokesman for McKenna claimed there had been problems with the title that had now been resolved, and there was no issue of unpaid bills.

Steve Quine, managing director of the building company Federal Construction, said he was "not in a position to comment".