Stuff Digital Edition

HANGI HOUSE TO DOSS-HOUSE

Jake Kenny

A troubled businessman who leased a building for a Hangi House instead set up massage tables and mattresses, invited homeless people in and began advertising a ‘‘male cruise club’’.

Unpaid rent has prompted the new landlord to change the locks and trespass Nikora Nitro, a failed Christchurch mayoral candidate.

Neighbouring New Brighton business owners said Nitro had been sleeping at the premises for months and estimated up to 10 people were staying there overnight at any given time. The Press understands the Shaw Ave building’s landlord served a rent arrears notice to Nitro in October for six months of unpaid rent, then changed the locks and trespassed him earlier this week.

When The Press visited on Thursday, there were old, stained mattresses, blankets and pillows littered around the property. A bed was set up beside a urinal and another inside an industrial freezer where a wi-fi router was next to the bed. There were piles of clothes, family photos and other personal items stashed throughout the property. The electricity was not working, and the walls and plumbing were damaged.

When Nitro opened the Hangi House, he promised to rejuvenate the seaside suburb and provide its locals with traditional Māori kai.

Nitro recently advertised The Closet male cruise club at the property on social media.

‘‘Christchurch’s leading cruise club based at New Brighton

in Christchurch. A twostorey cruise club for men that enjoy meeting other men in a safe environment.

‘‘Designed with you in mind, we invite you to come along and enjoy what we have to offer. $20 cruise or $22 full entry (showers, spa and lockers),’’ the advertisement read.

Nitro posted on his social media accounts on more than one occasion that he was housing homeless people, who he met outside on the street, inside the property. He took photos of them without their permission and posted them to Facebook.

He made derogatory comments about the homeless in one post, before going on to say they ‘‘should still be inside where it’s much safer and drier at night’’. In another post he said the people ‘‘need a shower’’ because they were ‘‘too smelly to stay at Hangi House’’.

Nitro allegedly tried to get into the building through a window on Thursday night and injured himself in the process, it is understood. Police were notified but no arrests have been made.

A police spokesperson said they were unable to comment on specific locations or persons due to privacy.

The Press first reported on Nitro’s unfulfilled promises, unpaid debts and political aspirations when he moved to New Brighton in April.

Nitro owed the previous Shaw Ave landlord in excess of $10,000 in rent before the building was sold earlier this year.

He hosted parties at the Hangi House to ‘‘raise money for rent’’, his social media said.

He was evicted in September from another New Brighton property, where he ran Crema cafe, over unpaid rent. He ran for the Christchurch mayoralty this year and received 1035 votes.

People who dealt with him in the past have said he has ‘‘the gift of the gab’’ but cannot be trusted and would leave anyone but himself out of pocket.

In late 2019, Hangi House was operating out of another Christchurch hospitality venue, which The Press agreed not to reveal. The owner of those premises said that over several months, Nitro cost them somewhere between $10,000 and $15,000 for not paying rent and failing to pay his staff.

Nitro’s full name is Nicholas Kayne Nitro. In 2012, he was convicted for receiving sexual services from a 16-year-old boy in exchange for cigarettes and cash (the age limit is 18 under the Prostitution Reform Act).

In 2015, he was found to have helped set up a youth charity with sex trade links. He and Veronica Rongomairatahi Stuart, who had convictions for fraud, previously operated the male sex club called The Closet. Nitro was a Mana Party member but resigned following his 2012 conviction.

It emerged earlier this year that Nitro was trying to organise school trips and holiday programmes despite having a sexual offence conviction, as well as not paying wages to his staff, among other allegations. Nitro could not be reached for comment.

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2022-12-03T08:00:00.0000000Z

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https://fairfaxmedia.pressreader.com/article/281479280439149

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