Illegal tenants’ secret lives exposed
The demolition of an earthquake- damaged Wellington office tower has revealed the extent of alleged illegal tenancies there.
The office at 61 Molesworth St was so badly damaged in the 7.8- magnitude Kaikoura earthquake that not even emergency personnel were allowed inside.
Demolition has now started, using an 85- tonne CAT 385 “ultra- high- reach” excavator.
As the machine tore away the concrete and metal sides of the office building, officials watching from afar could see how many rooms were inhabited in illegal residential tenancies.
Wellington City Council spokesman Richard MacLean said it now appeared tenants were living on up to four floors.
That figure had long been rumoured, but could not be confirmed with nobody able to enter the condemned building.
“As far as we know it was the first floor, the eighth floor, and then there’s a bit of disagreement about whether the fourth and fifth floors were being used,” MacLean said.
It’s still not confirmed just how many people were living across the various floors, as only two tenants have approached the council’s welfare team for help.
“It’s probably not even clear to [ PrimeProperty Group] how many people were living there at any given time,” MacLean said.
“It’s a mystery who some of the people were who were living in the building. Whether PrimeProperty has any records remains to be seen.”
The building was meant to be a vacant office block, and was not cleared for residential use.
City council emergency welfare manager Jenny Rains said they had been able to contact only two households from the building.
“In this one we didn’t have contact with the tenants before, so it’s really only if they get in touch with us afterwards. Then we can assist them.
“When we talked to the one family, they said there were other tenancies there as well.” running so we can offer bookings with another option. Obviously it might not suit their Christmas event, and we’d fully understand that, but we’re trying to hold on to those.”
In a heartening show of solidarity, the owners of nearby coffee shop Mojo have offered Dragonfly the use of their premises to operate out of.
Olive and Ernest Mape said they were paying rent of $ 300 a week to live in the building. They have been unable to get insurance because the building was not zoned for them to be living in it.
The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment’s tenancy compliance and investigation team has launched an inquiry.
Property managers PrimeProperty Group did not return calls for comment.
Siladi said it was overwhelming to have support from fellow businesses.
Last week it was announced up to 50 Wellington businesses could get government support, as earthquake relief packages are extended to the capital, so that hospitality and retail businesses inside cordons can pay staff. The support could last for up to eight weeks.