Fearful residents of Auckland's glamour Metropolis tower are paying to install security cameras on every floor after complaints about unruly behaviour and criminal elements moving into the building.
Residents' fears are being fuelled by regular police visits to the tower, last year's discovery of a $1 million "P" methamphetamine lab in a luxury unit and an unexplained death near the building this year.
But Roger Apperley, an elected owners' representative on the body corporate for four years, said cameras would be installed soon to address security worries.
A group of disgruntled residents are complaining about the tower's gradual deterioration but say they are powerless to stop it.
Judy Rogers, who owns a unit on level 17, says she is withholding body corporate payments until the situation improves.
"The police are here all the time visiting people and it makes many residents worried and uncomfortable," she said.
Poor building maintenance, rundown and filthy corridors and lifts, unruly occupants and non-residents using the gymnasium are just some of the issues she has raised.
Mr Apperley said the tower was still a five-star property and standards were generally being maintained.
Lapses in cleaning common areas were being rectified, the underground carpark would soon be repainted and, beginning on the lower levels, cameras installed.
The security system had been upgraded this year following the P lab bust, so access was restricted to residents and guests of the tower's Ascott Metropolis hotel, he said. A computer upgrade limited access to areas people were entitled to enter.
Mr Apperley said apartment owners had the opportunity to nominate new body corporate committee members in March, but didn't, suggesting they were satisfied with the way the six-year-old building was being looked after.
But Judy Rogers said her group of residents had been complaining for nearly a year to get basic interior maintenance and cleaning completed.
She sent a letter of complaint to Bayleys Real Estate - which acts as body corporate secretary - about:
* A plan to concrete in an exterior spa pool, saying the body corporate had no right to do this. The spa remains shut.
* Non-residents gaining access to the gym.
* Increases in the body corporate fees.
* Lack of security.
* Lack of a pool attendant and towels in the pool area.
* Poor communication between residents and the body corporate committee.
Real estate agent Pat Allen, of Allen Realty, also criticised the tower and was glad to vacate a unit he rented for six weeks, advising people to try an apartment before buying.
"The place is not up to standard," he wrote in the latest Kiwi Property Investor magazine. "It is dirty in common areas, repairs and maintenance issues are not being attended to in a timely manner; nobody seems to control unruly occupiers and the occupant mix includes some less-than-desirable tenants.
"Many of the residents - both tenants and owner-occupiers - are up in arms. They are frustrated that nothing seems to be done or takes forever."
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