A man is in critical condition in hospital after falling three floors down a stairwell in an abandoned quake-prone Wellington building.
Emergency services rushed to the vacant Pringle House near Wellington’s waterfront this morning after reports of people being injured due to “structural issues”.
A witness reported seeing seven ambulances, two police cars and two fire trucks outside the building.
One of those involved in the response initially said there were several trespassers in the abandoned building who had been injured due to a structural issue.
Fenz Assistant Commander Martin Wilby said they now believe only one person was injured, after falling three floors down a stairwell that had been damaged in a prior earthquake.
He said the person was believed to have fallen last night.
Wellington Free Ambulance confirmed it transported one person in moderate condition to Wellington Hospital.
A Health New Zealand - Te Whatu Ora spokesperson said the patient was in a critical condition.
The building is owned by Prime Property Group.
Residential Marketing & Development Manager Jason Dunn said he saw the injured man while paramedics worked on him but didn’t know how old he was.
He said the man was “definitely injured”, looked “uncomfortable” but “lucid, and wished him a fast and full recovery.
Dunn said there had been a “significant issue” with homeless individuals entering the building recently.
He said in the last 90 days they’ve removed and issued trespass notices to about 18 people.
Dunn said the company had also spent in excess of $30-40,000 to better secure the building this year to try and stop squatters and trespassers from gaining access.
“We have gone above and beyond to try and prevent individuals from illegally entering the building. When we visited the site this morning, we noticed the hoardings we had put up to barricade people from entering had been intentionally damaged.”
Prime Property said it has been tirelessly working with its engineers and insurers for years to resolve the future of the building and whether it can be repaired or needs to be demolished.
The building, at 142 Wakefield St, suffered damage to its stairwells during the 2013 Seddon earthquakes.
Greater Wellington Regional Council used to occupy the building and staff were relocated as a result.
Council chairman Daran Ponter previously told the Herald the problem was the building was effectively comprised of two buildings side by side.
”The two buildings had smacked against each other in the earthquake, ripped out all the pipe work between them, and all the water had effectively flowed between the buildings onto everyone’s computer equipment and throughout the whole building.”
Upon further investigation the building was found to be earthquake-prone, meaning it was less than 34 per cent of the New Building Standard.
The deadline to strengthen the building expires in 2027.
Wellington City Council spokesman Richard MacLean said it was the building owner’s responsibility to secure the property and prevent unauthorised access.
“We had a pre-application (resource consent) meeting with the owner in mid-April to discuss options and we will continue to provide support if it chooses to proceed with the earthquake repairs and strengthening.”
In 2016, an unknown number of tenants were found living in Pringle House, which was owned by Prime Property Group at that time.
The company was also found to be housing a family of four, a bankrupt businessman and a sickness beneficiary in a commercial building on Molesworth Street, which has since been demolished after the Kaikōura earthquake.
Dunn said there were no residential tenants currently being housed in the building.
”Absolutely no people are in here. We have moved them out.”
The Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment confirmed it was not aware of more recent illegal tenancies in the building and therefore had no jurisdiction to investigate.
Prime Property Group director Eyal Aharoni previously told the Herald he was just trying to house the homeless.
”Those are basically two buildings that we own which are completely empty and there are a lot of people out there who have nowhere to live and we are essentially trying to help people.”
Aharoni said the arrangement at the Wakefield St building was more transient than at Molesworth St.
”They were coming and going, there were a few people there but I can’t tell you how many.”
He said the people who stayed at Wakefield St paid about $100 rent a week.
The Tenancy Tribunal fined Prime Property $7520 for renting out the Molesworth St building.
Tribunal adjudicator Rex Woodhouse noted in his decision that the tenants had been put in a situation so risky, it was “chilling”.
He said documents for fire inspection showed that various fire protection systems had been shut off, as the provider thought the building was vacant.
Aharoni said he regretted allowing people to stay in the properties.
He said his actions were not an isolated case and many other empty office blocks in the city were rented out for residential use.
”The action against me possibly will make landlords think twice and possibly create a further squeeze in the residential market, making accommodation even harder to find, but that’s for MBIE to decide what they want to do.”
In 2017, Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment compliance and investigations team manager Steve Watson said the Wakefield St tenancies were not being investigated.
”It’s impossible to investigate without co-operation from tenants, and the file has been closed due to a lack of usable evidence.”
Ethan Manera is a multimedia journalist based in Wellington. He joined NZME in 2023 and is interested in politics, local issues and the public service. Ethan is always on the lookout for a story and can be emailed at ethan.manera@nzme.co.nz or messaged on X (formerly Twitter) @ethanjmanera
Georgina Campbell is a Wellington-based reporter who has a particular interest in local government, transport, and seismic issues. She joined the Herald in 2019 after working as a broadcast journalist.
OPINION: New Zealander reflects on delivering speech at St James' Palace.