The enormous $300 million Seascape tower has been unfinished since construction stalled in 2024.<\/p>\n
But real estate agency Bayleys says it’s on track to choose a preferred buyer within the next month.<\/p>\n
For neighbour Judy Rawhiti, the 56-storey skeleton blocks what used to be a picturesque seaside view.<\/p>\n
“It is ugly, it is absolutely ugly. We used to have a beautiful view across to Devonport. My view now, I’m looking out and I can see the unfinished building and it’s all grey and gloomy,” she said.<\/p>\n
“When the wind blows it sounds like a train’s going past because there’s a big ‘ooooh’ sort of ghostly noise, that’s probably why they call it the ghost building.”<\/p>\n
Construction on the ambitious apartment building began in 2017 and was due to be completed in 2021, but disruptions from Covid-19 pushed it into 2024.<\/p>\n
Then, a fallout between developer Shundi Customs and contractor China Construction NZ ground the project to a halt.<\/p>\n
![\"Seascape](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/seascape-building-in-auckland-downtown-ASB5ZYZTB5DXNC24WHQRAA4IOU.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Seascape Building in Auckland downtown. (File image). (Source: rnz.co.nz)<\/p>\n
All that time, Rawhiti had watched the half-finished tower sit exposed to the elements.<\/p>\n
“I’d love it to be dismantled,” she said.<\/p>\n
“If someone else buys it, half of it… Especially up the top, there’s no windows in there, so it’s exposed to the elements all right. I mean there’ll be so much inside that’ll need to be replaced.”<\/p>\n
Seascape was put in the hands of receivers early this year and real estate agency Bayleys had been searching for a buyer.<\/p>\n
Managing director Mike Bayley said rumours about the building’s weather damage were exaggerated.<\/p>\n
“Obviously when structures are exposed to the elements for an extended period of time, there is degradation,” he acknowledged.<\/p>\n
“I think there’s been a lot of speculation in the marketplace around the potential degradation of the building and all I can say is it’s not as far reaching as some may have speculated.”<\/p>\n
He said Bayley’s listing had positive attention, and a shortlist of interested buyers had made it through to the second phase of the sale.<\/p>\n
Bayley said they had until the August 28 to review the nitty gritty details of the building, including its wear and tear, then make a submission to become the final, preferred buyer.<\/p>\n
![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/the-enormous-dollar300-million-seascape-tower-has-been-unfin-TPBRFHL5FFECNA2QYFLVDA5LLI.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
The enormous $300 million Seascape tower has been unfinished since construction stalled in 2024. (Source: Judy Rawhiti)<\/p>\n
“It’ll then take a couple of weeks for the receivers to assess the depth and content of those offers before engaging with a preferred party or parties,” he said.<\/p>\n
“I think that’s a fair assumption, that we will have a party or parties narrowed down [two weeks after the 28th of August].”<\/p>\n
Despite wanting the tower gone, Judy Rawhiti said seeing it finished would be the next best thing.<\/p>\n
“If someone came in and bought it and were prepared to pay all the extra for wear and tear, I’d be quite happy,” she said.<\/p>\n
“It’ll make me feel better, having a better outlook and I can sort of look to the side… I definitely don’t want it to be sitting there as it is now. I don’t want it to fall on us.”<\/p>\n
Deputy mayor Desley Simpson said it was great to see movement on the long-stalled project.<\/p>\n
She hoped the project would pick up quickly once a buyer was found.<\/p>\n
“From Auckland’s perspective we’re backing a solution every step of the way and as soon as possible. My take would be, if this is all due at the end of August, I’m hoping for a conclusion pretty smartly after,” Simpson said.<\/p>\n
“I’m hoping to hear from them very promptly as soon as possible after the 28th of August.”<\/p>\n
The morning’s headlines in 90 seconds, including new footage of an armed man running into Sylvia Park, a train derails in the UK, and a Brisbane supermarket fight caught on camera. (Source: 1News)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"An abandoned tower on Auckland’s waterfront could soon find a new owner. By Felix Walton of RNZ The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":568378,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[138,219,111,43,139,69,814],"class_list":["post-568377","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-business","tag-economy","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-property"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/568377","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=568377"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/568377\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/568378"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=568377"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=568377"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=568377"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}