Housing firms liquidated

By ANNE GIBSON

A string of companies owned by Auckland developer brothers Roderick and Gregory Nielsen have gone under.

Castlerock Group, Castlerock Marua, Eastpark Management, Ellerslie Properties and Augustus Housing have folded, although the Nielsens still have many other companies and are operating under Castlerock Property Holdings, with offices in Parnell.

Castlerock Group is in liquidation and has been struck off the Companies Register. The other four companies are now in the hands of liquidators Grant Graham and Brendon Gibson, of Ferrier Hodgson, who have just received the file from liquidator Brett Hoddle.

The latest companies to fold are site-specific, undertaking single projects, although Mr Graham said more details - including the number of creditors and money being claimed - would be provided soon.

The Nielsen brothers have been prominent on the Auckland property scene for several years.

They built at least 10 large developments, ranging from top-of-the-line terraced homes to cheaper apartments.

They developed the leaking, 85-unit Greenwich Park complex, a prominent intensive housing development finished in 2001 between Symonds St and the Southern Motorway. Excavations from the Sky Tower site were used as fill.

The 1.7ha site has access from Glenside Cres, running off Symonds St, and the Nielsens sold most of the units off the plans, achieving an average price of $249,000.

"Most of the residents are young, aged between 25 and 40, mostly they are European and single," Rod Nielsen said at the time.

But owners have named the brothers and their core company, Castlerock Property Holdings, in a $3.5 million legal action - the biggest known leaking building lawsuit.

After Greenwich Park, the brothers moved on to develop the former Ellerslie Oaks hotel site on Main Highway, where 70 units were built.

But by October, a group of about 40 owners of homes in the new Ellerslie Oaks complex met to discuss what action to take over alleged incomplete work.

The company that developed the site, Mays Road (Ellerslie), was put into voluntary liquidation towards the end of last year.

The Herald reported last year that the Nielsen brothers were listed as directors of at least 33 companies, 15 of which have either been put into liquidation or struck off the register.

But Rod Nielsen said at the time that he was upset about the allegations being made against him.

"Is this shoot-the-developer season?" he asked.

"We do not have one single creditor. Every person who has done work for us has received payment to their satisfaction."

The Castlerock failures follow moves by former Auckland rugby star Glenn Rich to put his Ca'Bella Construction and Ca'Bella Civil into liquidation.

These companies were involved in a string of high-rise Auckland towers and went under early last month.

Ca'Bella Construction built a Mt Eden high-density housing project dogged by leaks.

Another prominent developer, Taradale Properties, last week closed its website, and just before Christmas laid off about 12 staff.

Owners of many units built by Taradale are complaining about leaks and founder Tim Manning has walked away from developing a Botany Downs site, saying high-density housing is now too hard.

The website was shut down last week because it was being rebuilt, he said.

Peter Degerholm, chief executive of the Building Subcontractors Federation, said problems in the industry were being brought out by a combination of leaky buildings and the new Construction Contracts Act, which comes into force on April 1.

The act aims to clean up the industry by introducing fast-track disputes resolution procedures and outlawing some forms of payments.

But BNZ economist Tony Alexander said "leaky building scaremongers" were not deterring people from seeking new houses.

He cited data from Statistics New Zealand last week that showed a record number of building consents for residential construction, which reached a 29-year peak in January.

* If you have information about leaking buildings,
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