Work restarts on townhouse project
Builders are back on site at a 150-townhouse development in central Wellington, after work stopped when construction company Armstrong Downes went into liquidation.
Stephen Sutorius, whose company Thames Pacific is the developer behind the The Paddington development on Taranaki St, said the demise of Armstrong Downes had created delays of three to four weeks and cost his company ‘‘multiple millions’’, but buyers would not be paying more for their new homes.
The subcontractors that returned to work yesterday were the same as those who had been working under Armstrong Downes, but were now employed by Thames Pacific directly.
Stage two and three of ThePaddington are still under construction.
Sutorius said stage two, which contained 42 properties, should be ready for handover by midJune, subject to council approval.
Stage three, which contained contains 70 properties, would probably be completed at some point in September.
Wade Puata, a contractor with Capital Builds working on the Jessie St side of the development, said the development was ‘‘like a ghost town.’’
‘‘The guys who didn’t get paid haven’t showed up, and fair enough,’’ he said.
Puata said Capital Builds had acted quickly to have staff paid, and joked that the shutout was like a ‘‘two-week holiday’’.
Sutorius said Thames Pacific would be paying all subcontractors any wages they were owed, and said the site would probably be back to full operation in a couple of weeks.
He said some subcontractors had taken on other smaller jobs elsewhere while the site was shut down, but they would be returning.
‘‘We have picked up the site, we have got access back on site now, we have taken it back over from the main contractor,’’ Sutorius said.
‘‘All of the subcontractors previously on the job have been happy to come back.
‘‘There’s no risk to the buyers, there’s no increase in cost to them at all.’’
Armstrong Downes Commercial went into liquidation in early May.
There have been a warnings that the industry is likely to see more liquidations in the near future.
David Ruscoe and Russell Moore from Grant Thornton were appointed liquidators to the 10-year-old company.