Heritage apartment owners face uncertainty – and $8m bill

Looking through Roger Walker’s funky modern apartment you might be forgiven for thinking the thick steel reinforcing and large wooden beams would make the place pretty robust.

Although the heritage brick building on Wellington’s Egmont St was strengthened to code in the early 2000s, when it was refurbished with 19 modern apartments, it’s now deemed earthquake prone.

The Tea Store, as it is known, and its inhabitants find themselves at the forefront of the capital’s looming earthquake prone building (EPB) crisis – and facing an $8 million repair bill.

A deadline to bring it above code again lapsed earlier this year. However, the building can’t be fixed economically, can’t be insured against disasters and can’t be demolished due to its heritage status.

The four-storey structure came through the 2016 Kaikōura earthquake without so much as a crack, whereas newer buildings rated 100% NBS (new building standard), such as Statistics House, were a write off.

“I hope common sense is going to prevail ... there’s going to be a fight about this.” Roger Walker

Tea Store resident

“While things shook around a bit nothing fell off the shelves and there was no structural damage,” Walker said.

Yet legislation introduced in 2016 means the Tea Store now isn’t compliant, even though its unreinforced masonry was secured with steel bracing.

Walker, himself an architect, did not believe the code needed to be upgraded in the wake of the Canterbury earthquakes, as most deaths were caused by buildings that did not comply with the earlier standards.

“I think it’s absurd that I’m going to be forced out of my office and my dwelling because an earthquake might kill me, but when I go out into the street I’ve got four times more chance of being hit by a bus.

“I hope common sense is going to prevail ... there’s going to be a fight about this.”

The building’s body corporate chairperson, Chris Graham, said residents were facing severe financial penalties for work they could not afford, and possible eviction.

“The current NBS legislation is unworkable, untenable, and is negatively affecting the health and wellbeing of many people.”

Over the past five years owners had spent almost $900,000 on engineering work to figure out an affordable strengthening plan.

Strengthening to a bare minimum of 40% NBS had proved unaffordable for owners, with a high level costing of $8.1m.

“The retro-fitting of old buildings such as ours is difficult and it is impossible to get a fixed price.”

Graham said they could easily face a cost blowout, as has happened with the Wellington Town Hall.

Many of the building’s occupants were older people who could not get finance and their insurance brokers would not give natural disaster cover even at 70% NBS.

There was no obvious solution and any remediation would likely bankrupt owners. The situation was causing severe the health and mental impacts on owners, he said. “The current legislation needs to be reviewed urgently because it is unworkable, unachievable for owners in situations such as ours.

“If Wellington City Council wants to keep Wellington as a vibrant and safe city, then it needs to act urgently.”

A council spokesperson said they were “engaging directly with the owners about any future course of action so won’t be commenting in the media”.

Wellington City councillor Iona Pannett welcomed the building and construction minster Chris Penk’s recent comments signalling an openness to bringing forward a review of the earthquake prone building system, but the Government needed to act quickly to help people like the residents of the Tea House building.

“I’m deeply concerned about anyone being forced to sell, or being put under pressure to do so because they just can’t afford half a million dollars, which of most Kiwis is completely out of the question.”