At least four are now on the market, ranging from a $625,000 one-bedder to a $1.655m three-bedroom as big as a house and boasting “spectacular harbour views” and Smeg and Bosch appliances.
“It’s an appealing option for those leaving a larger family home without compromising on space, comfort or the ability to entertain,” its sale listing says.
Two developers and a rescue gone wrong
Beachcroft apartments, a six-level waterfront complex in Onehunga dreamed up by two art dealers.
Nearly a decade after its first deposits were taken, the block has become one of Auckland’s rockiest apartment builds – handed from one developer to another through a market downturn, and finally to receivers who got it over the line.
For buyers who managed to stick with it, there’s finally four walls to move into.
For those who bankrolled it and some who worked on it, there’s a $95m tab claimed to have been left behind.
Auckland art dealers Anne and Bruce Clegg started the project through their company Erson Developments, taking deposits from 2017, but work stopped in 2022 when their builder left the project and buyers had their deposits repaid.
Developer Roger Coulson, a 30-year property veteran, bought the partly built block in June 2023 with backing from wealth management firm Alvarium, OneRoof reported.
Companies Office records and insolvency reports show he solely controls the partnership that owns it.
Alvarium and fellow lender Alceon Finance now claim $86m, with a further $9.4m claimed by about 60 others, including contractors, the administrators’ final report shows.
The Beachcroft residences photographed before completion.
The two lenders’ trustee called in receivers McGrathNicol last October after the project lost a payment dispute with a contractor and couldn’t pay about $700,000 it was ordered to, according to the administrators’ report published in July.
The receivers have since brought in a new construction manager and finished the building, which now has its code compliance certificate from Auckland Council, according to the receivers and earlier Herald reporting.
Andrew Grenfell from receiver McGrathNicol said some who pre-bought apartments had now settled and one apartment had been bought by a new buyer.
The buyers had seemed “happy with the building” now it’s finished, he said.
Coulson has been approached for comment. Alvarium said it had no further comment.
Cheaper than 2023
The four apartments listed with Bayleys this month all have “CCC and titles issued” and are ready to move in, their listings say.
The cheapest, a one-bedroom unit with a private courtyard at $625,000, is billed as “exceptional value” for first-home buyers.
A two-bedroom apartment is going for $715,000, while a north-facing three-bedroom goes for $965,000, and the three-bedroom as big as a house apartment with media room and two carparks goes for $1.655m.
That’s cheaper than in 2023, when Coulson relaunched the project and prices for one-bedroom apartments with a car park started at $670,000 and two-bedrooms at $875,000, OneRoof reported.
Open homes are being held this week at a showroom apartment in the building, the listings say.
The building project has $95 million claimed as being owed to lenders and creditors. Photo / Jason Dorday
A decade in the making
Marketing for the apartments kicked off as early as 2017, with building beginning the following year.
Yet by 2022 costs had nearly doubled, from about $40m to $85m, and work stopped, the Herald reported.
The Cleggs said the end of the contract with their builder Teak was because of their own company’s issues and was “not due to any default or failure by Teak”.
The site sat idle for about a year, and every buyer was given back their 10% deposit, the Herald reported.
Then in June 2023 Coulson bought the project, saying construction would restart that July and be finished by December 2024.
He called its rebirth a “warm, good-feeling story” in a OneRoof article at the time.
“I am honoured to be part of this remarkable project and excited to deliver an exceptional living experience to our future homeowners,” he said in a media release at the time.
Early buyers were offered the chance to buy back their apartments at their original price, the Herald reported.
One of the apartments is billed as offering the space of the house but with the convenience of apartment living.
Yet by November 2024, Coulson’s budget had risen to about $42m with completion pushed to March 2025, he would later tell administrators.
By October last year receivers moved in to take over and the building site was to close temporarily.
The lenders were owed $71.7m when the receivers were appointed last year, their first report shows, and by June this year that had grown to $83.3m including interest and the receivers’ funding.
In August, creditors voted for a deal proposed by Alvarium, which in July had offered to put in $300,000 to pay some smaller creditors 15c to 17.5c in the dollar of their claims.
SEE 209/100 BEACHCROFT AVE’S ONEROOF LISTING HERE.
SEE 320/100 BEACHCROFT AVE’S ONEROOF LISTING HERE.
SEE 310/100 BEACHCROFT AVE’S ONEROOF LISTING HERE.
SEE 413/100 BEACHCROFT AVE’S ONEROOF LISTING HERE.