New York lease of life for rundown flats

Mackley said.

Every apartment would get a new kitchen and bathroom, with each flat refit expected to take about a month.

Tenants were given the option to break their lease before renovations started, but with a strapped rental market in Blenheim, everyone had stayed on.

Others had since joined a wait list too.

The plan was to completely finish the interior of one apartment first, currently home to their son Harry, who works for Owen.

Each of the tenants would take turns living in the completely finished apartment, while they had their own space renovated.

‘‘It means we start work at 8am, when everyone is going to work, and then we start packing things up by 4pm, before everyone gets home,’’ Mackley said.

Outside, they were fencing off the front, putting in a deck, building individual car ports at the back and putting in a communal laundry, to allow more space in the apartments. New sewer mains would be installed.

Plastering and painting the front of the building was expected to be completed by the end of next week, Mackley said.

There had not been any major surprises yet, but Mackley was finding the further into the project she got, the more upgrades she wanted to do to the property.

‘‘I’m finding I need to constantly tell myself not to get ahead, there’s just so much I want to do.’’

She now wanted to put a new roof on, as it would eventually need replacing anyway, she said.

Follow the development at the Haddin Flats Renovation Facebook page.