Failure of Auckland’s eco-friendly builder Evergreen Modular: 94 unsecured creditors lost 95.2c in every $1 owed

Yet it accumulated big debts to the point where it owed more than $9.7m to all classes of creditors before it failed two years ago.

Bunnings, Noel Leeming, Deloitte and BDO Auckland were among the long list of creditors.

Secured and preferential creditors fared considerably better.

Fourteen secured creditors claimed $1.04m and recovered $1.02m after assets were sold. They included Kāinga Ora, Heartland Bank, Red Stag Timber, Carters Building Supplies and Fletcher Distribution businesses PlaceMakers and Metal Line Roofing.

Preferential claims of $200,587 were paid in full. They comprised $124,976 of employee entitlements, $53,921 owed to Inland Revenue and $21,690 owed to a related party for funding provided during the liquidation.

The first Mt Albert block on Richardson Rd/Hendon Ave under construction. Photo / Property Partners Group

Liquidators were appointed in mid-2024.

The company’s first modular apartment block made from pre-assembled pods was at 159 Hendon Ave in Ōwairaka.

At the time of appointment, Evergreen Modular employed 34 fulltime staff who had accrued $60,376 in wages and $83,459 in holiday pay.

All staff were immediately let go, but some were re-employed on a casual contract.

Before liquidation, Evergreen had made 21 staff redundant. Those 21 were owed $30,804 in holiday pay.

Total accrued holiday pay and wages was $174,639.

Steve Mikkelsen, a director of Evergreen Modular, appeared in a video showcasing businesses which were construction accord beacons.

All preferential claims were paid in full.

The liquidators indicated the sale of the large Ōwairaka apartment block on Richardson Rd/Hendon Ave, which Evergreen was building when it failed.

Efforts focused on preserving the value of that development. Evergreen did pre-built modules.

The principal lender provided funding to support essential preservation and maintenance activities, including wages, site security, module maintenance and other site-related costs required to protect and maintain the development.

Integrated Modular Build, an Australian modular apartment builder, failed part-way into $20m Kainga Ora projects. Photo / File

“Responsibility for the ongoing development was subsequently transferred to a third party. Following negotiations with the funder, the 72 bespoke modules were sold on April 30, 2025 for $1,218,000, excluding GST,” the liquidators said.

The Herald covered Evergreen when it was trading in 2023, publishing an article headlined “From Sweden to Ōwairaka: First of three modular timber housing blocks up”.

The first of three modular apartment blocks, designed and made in a south Auckland factory but based on a Swedish system, went up at an Ōwairaka site.

Steve Mikkelsen and Ty Jones are Evergreen’s directors and Mikkelsen told in 2023 what the business was doing.

Work by Build Partners, creating for new state homes for Kāinga Ora on Cadman Ave, Waterview. Photo / Jason Oxenham

Pod housing units were made in a Wiri factory, then trucked to the site and craned into place, one on top of the other.

A video clip showed construction of the Richardson Rd block, where the first stage of the $90m project had risen on land Property Partners bought from Kāinga Ora.

Evergreen was part of the wider Build Partners group, which was building 91 apartments for Kāinga Ora when it failed. Property Partners Group developed apartment and townhouse projects often utilising pre-built modules from Evergreen, including several projects developed for or in conjunction with Kāinga Ora.

Evergreen Modular’s final report was filed on October 21.

The company will be removed from the Companies Office.

Anne Gibson has been the Herald’s property editor for 26 years, written books and covered property extensively here and overseas.

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