{"id":228853,"date":"2026-01-11T22:36:11","date_gmt":"2026-01-11T22:36:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/228853\/"},"modified":"2026-01-11T22:36:11","modified_gmt":"2026-01-11T22:36:11","slug":"aucklands-stalled-housing-developments-a-year-on-whats-changed-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/228853\/","title":{"rendered":"Auckland\u2019s stalled housing developments a year on: What\u2019s changed"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u2018Blight on Epsom landscape\u2019 remains<\/p>\n

\"OriginallyOriginally called The Epsom Central Apartments Project, this building on Manukau Rd has sat unfinished for years. Photo \/ RNZ, Melanie Earley<\/p>\n

The Epsom Central Apartments Project halted six years ago after Auckland Council found it had not complied with building consent.<\/p>\n

The original partnership, Epsom Central Apartments LP, was put into receivership in 2022, and purchased by Xiao Liu, the director of a company named Reeheng Ltd, in 2023.<\/p>\n

A year ago, locals complained the building was a \u201cblight on the Epsom landscape\u201d and had at one point been filled with rats and squatters.<\/p>\n

In 2025, no noticeable progress had been made to the building, the owner of former neighbouring business Just Laptops, Forrest Tan, said.<\/p>\n

Since then, Tan had demolished his building, partly to prepare for a rebuild he said, and partly because a previous scaffolding collapse at the derelict site next door had damaged his old building.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis would be an ideal time to demolish [the building]. My site is now a clear, open space. Once my new building goes up, demolition would be extremely difficult since it\u2019s a boundary-to-boundary structure on a busy stretch of road.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"TheThe building is on Epsom’s busy Manukau Rd. Photo \/ RNZ, Melanie Earley<\/p>\n

When RNZ visited the site, there was no obvious work ongoing, but the precarious-looking scaffolding did appear to have been tidied up or replaced and pedestrians no longer had to walk underneath it.<\/p>\n

Has NZ\u2019s highest residential tower restarted?<\/p>\n

\"TheThe Seascape apartment project was on hold for about a year. Photo \/ RNZ, Ziming Li<\/p>\n

New Zealand\u2019s would-be tallest apartment building, Seascape tower in Auckland\u2019s CBD, had construction halted for about a year.<\/a><\/p>\n

In September 2024, it was reported the work had stalled because of a dispute between the developer and the builder.<\/p>\n

But a year later, work resumed on the tower with contractors beginning to appear at the site.<\/p>\n

Bayleys was also running a marketing campaign for unsold units with the words \u201ca new chapter begins\u201d.<\/p>\n

Pukekohe\u2019s \u2018lock and leave\u2019 houses<\/p>\n

\"TheThe Valley Rd construction project in Pukekohe. Photo \/ RNZ, Melanie Earley<\/p>\n

Several duplexes on Pukekohe\u2019s Valley Rd had remained just the wooden frames of houses for at least a year, locals said, but it appeared as though some construction had been underway in 2025.<\/p>\n

A year on, the duplexes were still covered in scaffolding<\/a> and behind a fence, with no workers on site when RNZ visited, but it was obvious construction had been taking place.<\/p>\n

The lots were listed for sale by Barfoot and Thompson in mid-2025, with the listing stating construction was due to be completed in \u201clate 2025\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u2018Eyesore\u2019 no more<\/p>\n

In the coastal suburb of Mairangi Bay on the North Shore, a new build construction site which long worried locals as work appeared to have stalled was moving forward at some pace.<\/p>\n

Nick Rogers, who lives near the site on Beach Rd, said work on the site seemed to stall in 2024 with just the exterior shell created.<\/p>\n

But by the end of 2025, Rogers said work was underway again.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt restarted about two or three months ago and is at quite some pace! Locals are relieved,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

According to property records, the site was last sold in 2015 \u2013 it was not yet clear when the construction was due to finish.<\/p>\n

Kingsland\u2019s \u2018The George\u2019<\/p>\n

\"TheThe George on New North Road in Kingsland. Photo \/ RNZ, Melanie Earley<\/p>\n

Marketing for The George on New North Rd in Kingsland began emerging in early 2022, and was listed at the time by Harcourts, as nine luxury townhouses starting at a price of $1,785,000.<\/p>\n

A website for the development had long since been defunct, but when RNZ visited the site in December, it was an active construction site.<\/p>\n

Despite being little more than some planks of wood and a fence scrawled with graffiti a year ago, the building had now taken shape.<\/p>\n

The developer of the site, CSS Luxury Homes said the site was due to be finished in mid to late 2026.<\/p>\n

Vinod Kumar Chawla, the director of the company, said the project had stalled because of issues with finances.<\/p>\n

\u201cMany ups and downs but good times will come again,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a good location, top class finishing \u2026 one of the best in the city.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u2018Blight on Epsom landscape\u2019 remains Originally called The Epsom Central Apartments Project, this building on Manukau Rd has…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":228854,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[3952,138,6186,40867,25021,3339,25020,111,139,69,90,89272,14605,379],"class_list":{"0":"post-228853","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business","8":"tag-aucklands","9":"tag-business","10":"tag-changed","11":"tag-developments","12":"tag-earley","13":"tag-housing","14":"tag-melanie","15":"tag-new-zealand","16":"tag-newzealand","17":"tag-nz","18":"tag-on","19":"tag-stalled","20":"tag-whats","21":"tag-year"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/228853","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=228853"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/228853\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/228854"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=228853"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=228853"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=228853"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}