The north-facing units are flooded with sunlight, the high-quality double glazing providing warm, fit-for-purpose homes in chilly mid-winter Auckland. Views from the top look out over surrounding areas, some towards the water.<\/p>\n
So why has this highly glazed temple to apartment life never attracted a single resident?<\/p>\n
The completed, 46-unit Loxley Apartments at 32-34 Tennyson Ave in Takapuna went up for mortgagee sale on June 6, 2025. Photo \/ Colliers<\/p>\n
To trace why Loxley\u2019s units have remained empty for all this time, it\u2019s necessary to look back.<\/p>\n
Back story<\/p>\n
The apartment block is located on Tennyson Ave, a cul-de-sac street of mainly single-level homes on standalone sites.<\/p>\n
Esmonde Rd runs parallel with Tennyson Ave and there are bus stops connecting to the motorway at Takapuna, from which it\u2019s often only a 10- to 20-minute bus ride into the CBD.<\/p>\n
In 2017, the Herald published an article on Loxley<\/a>, detailing how plans were proposed for two big, five-level apartment blocks filling two sites side by side.<\/p>\n Loxley was a graphic image of how Auckland streetscapes were changing under the new Unitary plan in one big proposal on the North Shore, that article said.<\/p>\n In 2018, development of the property was reported on<\/a> by the Herald as things progressed.<\/p>\n It was radical at the time because the development was proposed with no car parks. <\/p>\n Car-stacker machines were instead planned to maximise use of space. <\/p>\n Two five-level blocks with 46 units and 43 car parking spaces were proposed. <\/p>\n The development also included six pairs of stacked parking in the two-level basement with bike stands.<\/p>\n Developer\u2019s trouble<\/p>\n The developer was Andrew Bendemski, the sole director of Tennyson GCO.<\/p>\n He is a former bankrupt.<\/p>\n Bendemski struck financial difficulties with Loxley as the market turned.<\/p>\n Many of his companies went into receivership or liquidation.<\/p>\n But there were other issues, too.<\/p>\n The Press reported how Bendemski had three sexual assault convictions. <\/p>\n He was found guilty by a jury in August 2023 of three charges of sexual violation of a 10-year-old girl and sentenced to three years\u2019 jail.<\/p>\n In April last year, liquidator Simon Dalton of Gerry Rea Partners was appointed to Tennyson GCO by its shareholders.<\/p>\n \u201cThe company operated a residential development business in the Auckland region. The receivers and liquidators of the shareholding companies identified related-party debts owing by the company and resolved to place the company into liquidation,\u201d Dalton\u2019s initial report said.<\/p>\n The company owns 32 and 34 Tennyson Ave, \u201cwhich is being developed into an apartment complex that, we understand, is due to be completed in the coming weeks\u201d, the liquidator\u2019s first report said.<\/p>\n First attempt to sell<\/p>\n Then in June last year, two Colliers agents tried to sell the entire block under the mortgagee sale process. <\/p>\n Realtors Shoneet Chand and Josh Coburn indicated an appetite to move the apartment block.<\/p>\n Colliers has been exclusively appointed by the mortgagee to market the high-quality development, the advertisement said.<\/p>\n \u201cWith a motivated vendor, the property is being offered for sale by way of deadline private treaty.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is a rare opportunity to acquire all 46 completed apartments, each finished to a superior and modern standard, over two standalone buildings. <\/p>\n \u201cWith no committed contracts, the property offers the incoming purchaser an opportunity to repurpose it as a build-to-rent investment, supported by strong nearby amenities and convenient public transport links.\u201d<\/p>\n Today, Josh Coburn of Colliers said although Loxley looked completed last year, it was not. <\/p>\n No code compliance had been issued.<\/p>\n Also, remediations were still to be carried out.<\/p>\n Those were for paint, appliance, carpet and driveway issues, Coburn said.<\/p>\n Who funded Loxley?<\/p>\n Last year, the Herald reported how the title showed WFT Finance as holding a mortgage over the property, along with a list of other financiers.<\/p>\n Wayne Wright jnr, co-founder and trustee of prominent charity the Wright Family Foundation<\/a> in Tauranga<\/a>, is listed by the Companies Office as WFT Finance\u2019s sole director.<\/p>\n The family has been assessed as having $400 million by the National Business Review, with the majority of their wealth derived from the sale of childcare operator Best Start.<\/p>\n Today, the title shows money owing to the United States funder Quaestor Advisors LLC and WFT Finance.<\/p>\n Wright jnr said Quaestor was \u201cnow not part of the landscape\u201d.<\/p>\n New owner<\/p>\n Via the liquidator, Wright jnr bought the Loxley through his newly-incorporated Loxley Apartments, registered in June last year.<\/p>\n Wright took possession because the family finance business had loaned that developer\u2019s company money to build the units.<\/p>\n The Herald approached Wright about all this to try to understand why the block had been empty so long with no obvious prospect of sale or occupation.<\/p>\n Wayne Wright snr, one of the founders of the philanthropic Tauranga charity, died in March this year.<\/p>\n His son explained more but wanted to stress that WFT Finance and the Wright Family Foundation are separate entities. <\/p>\n They have no common trustees or directors, Wright said.<\/p>\n \u201cUpon my father\u2019s passing, I became managing director of the Wright Family Trust and all Wright family investment subsidiaries, including the Loxley Apartments,\u201d Wright explained.<\/p>\n \u201cSince taking over the project from liquidation, we have spent several million dollars completing the project and bringing it up to code. <\/p>\n \u201cThat work is almost complete, and we aim to take it to market very soon,\u201d Wright jnr said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are still considering options of individual unit sales or the entire block in one transaction. <\/p>\n \u201cWe believe the development has a combined total value north of $35m, but of course the market will judge that,\u201d Wright said.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve had my feet under the desk only three months. When my father died in March, I became the managing director of all our commercial interests, which by extension made me the sole director of WFT Finance.\u201d<\/p>\n Loxley apartments would take \u201cmillions\u201d to complete in the project managed by Matvin Group, he said.<\/p>\n \u201cIf we do sell individually, I\u2019ve reserved an apartment for myself. There\u2019s a unit which looks across Bayswater Marina to downtown Auckland which is particularly fetching.\u201d<\/p>\n And that\u2019s where this sorry Loxley story could end \u2013 some good news for the financier, himself getting one of the best places.<\/p>\nPlans for Loxley, launched last decade.<\/p>\n
Loxley: so sunny in a chilly Auckland winter.<\/p>\n
Loxley shown on marketing plans. These units have now been built but never lived in.<\/p>\n
Kitchens like this, shown in marketing for the Loxley, have been built but never used.<\/p>\n
Loxley bedrooms have never been slept in. This depiction was shown when the units were being marketed.<\/p>\n
Wayne Wright snr died in March.<\/p>\n
Wayne Wright jnr on Lake Taup\u014d in 2024. He heads the family investment business, headquartered in Tauranga. Photo \/ Wayne Wright<\/p>\n