After costs blew out in 2023, Arlington was among a number of Kāinga Ora developments paused after a scathing review found the agency was on track for annual deficits of about $700m.
The Mt Cook land, owned by council, previously boasted a 1970s-era high-rise apartment building and other public housing units, before demolitions took place in 2020 to make way for the new development.
The Arlington Apartments site located between Hankey, Hopper and Arlington Streets in Mount Cook, Wellington, which covers 1.77 ha. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Kāinga Ora said in 2024 it expected work to restart once plans had been finalised and resource consent requirements met.
Instead, no construction has resumed and, despite $50.2m being spent on the project by March this year according to Bishop’s office, the site remains little more than steel foundations.
The Herald learned in April that Bishop had scheduled an announcement on progress for the development at the site on April 23, but that announcement never went ahead.
Mt Cook Residents Association chairman Peter Cooke said he had heard nothing of a planned announcement, and said progress had slowed on the development.
Chris Goldsbury, director of construction firm Aoraki, which had been contracted to work on the Arlington site, told the Herald he had not heard from Kāinga Ora “in some time” on its plans for the site, but knew the agency had “watered down how much was going to be built on the site”.
“There’s been no, from our perspective, no meaningful progression at all”, Goldsbury said.
Kāinga Ora would not address questions about the status of the development, including how much had been spent on it, and whether it had gone to the agency’s board.
Asked why the planned announcement never went ahead, Bishop said “good progress has been made on Arlington but requires the council to vary their lease agreement with Kāinga Ora.”
He said the state-housing agency has a legal obligation to the council to deliver 300 social houses on the site, but that is no longer economically viable.
“KO has new plans for the site but they cannot proceed without the council varying the lease.”
“Discussions are underway and I hope to be able to say more very soon,” Bishop said.
He said the project was first delayed in July 2023 under the previous Labour government.
Asked when it would vary the lease, a council spokesman said they were “currently engaging with MCERT (the new Ministry for Cities, Environment, Regions and Transport) to negotiate a feasible outcome for the redevelopment of the Arlington site”.
Wellington Mayor Andrew Little said in June that council officers had been engaging with Kāinga Ora, “but we are still waiting for the Government to announce their intentions for Arlington”.
Little said a “more modest” development had been signalled, and the council was considering how to make up the difference in the number of dwellings if it were to be dramatically scaled back.
In response to Bishop’s comments, Cooke said the community was “frustrated” with the delays.
“We clearly feel that with the housing crisis as it is, that the Government should get on with building where they have a site,” he said.
Ethan Manera is a Wellington-based journalist covering Wellington issues, local politics and business in the capital. He can be emailed at ethan.manera@nzme.co.nz.