Luxury apartments under repair as row goes to court

A huge set of leaky luxury apartments in Browns Bay is under repair.

The upmarket 51-unit Bacchus apartments and retail block, not far from the waterfront, is covered in safety mesh and scaffolding while the job is completed.

Multiplex Constructions (NZ) built the block, Stephenson & Turner designed it and Joel McLellan was the developer.

A dispute between apartment owners and several parties involved in the block went before Judge David Abbott in the High Court at Auckland.

Construction defects and leaks were at the centre of that action, brought by the block's body corporate, which sought to enforce Mr McLellan's liability over problems.

Judge Abbott said the Bute Rd block was built between October 1997 and March 2002.

Multiplex complained in the case that Mr McLellan had required it to deviate from the plans for the building and change the external cladding. Originally, $250,000 was calculated as the cladding costs for the block but the Multiplex construction manager told the court it became clear the work would cost much more. Another option - a texture coating on a Harditex product - was chosen because it was cheaper, he said.

Judge Abbott said the block's cladding was one of the issues central to the body corporate's grievance.

But he also decided it was up to the body corporate to prove that Mr McLellan had a personal liability.

Mr McLellan told the court he did not manage the job or do any of the construction work which was at the centre of the complaints.

All steps in the developer process were taken in the name of his companies, which included North Harbour Developments, Bute Road Developments and Buildcorp Developments.

Now, some property owners in the block have been trying to quit the building.

A 43sq m ground-floor shop with two undercover carparks at 9 Bute Rd is being marketed for just $15,000.

Many elderly people bought apartments in the resort-style development, which is in the heart of the town centre, a short stroll from the beach.