The people want to develop, others want to veto

Since its purchase, Victoria University of Wellington has spent the better part of a million dollars on rates, legal costs, and security for the Flats alone. This includes $500,917.40 excluding GST on legal advice and representation, $217,726.83 excluding GST on rates, and at least $29,659.91 on safety and security measures.

The Gordon Wilson Flats was once a modern, shining set of flats, but now you would be forgiven for mistaking it as a dilapidated, oversized WWII bunker. Once upon a time, promises included development of “state-of-the-art teaching and research facilities”, now it is used as an example around Wellington to mock what modern “heritage” buildings look like.

A brief history

The structurally unsound Gordon Wilson Flats and adjacent McLean Flats were deemed an earthquake risk and have been unoccupied since. Despite the state of the site, the University subsequently bought both buildings. An engineer’s report showed large slabs of the concrete exterior could come off in an earthquake or strong wind.

The Gordon Wilson Flats were bought from Housing New Zealand in 2014. In 2015 the university applied to the Wellington City Council to de-list the building’s heritage status in its District Plan in order to begin demolition work. The Council voted in favour of removing the building’s heritage status as part of its 2016 District Plan and the building was re-zoned as part of Victoria University of Wellington. The Architecture Centre, however, challenged this decision in the Environment Court, claiming the 1950s flats had “significant heritage value”. With this successful 2017 appeal, the Court determined that the heritage listing should stand. The University responded to appeal proceedings in the Environment Court regarding the delisting of the Gordon Wilson Flats. The University then bought the McLean Flats in 2019. 

Basically, it is with the utmost difficulty that any development on the site can take place while any form of heritage protection is in place. Being heritage-listed, plans to develop or demolish the site would need further Environment Court approval. Without resorting to the courts and to an enormous bill, there does not seem to be any foreseeable resolution in sight.

“Paused” plans won’t help our city

The University website stated that resource consent would not be applied for due to the economic downturn caused by the coronavirus pandemic, however we understand that as of 2022, the University was submitting to the Wellington City Council’s District Plan.

As of 2023, given the University’s highly publicised financial challenges, the redevelopment of the Gordon Wilson Flats (other than resource consent preparation) has been paused.

What we reckon

Gordon Wilson Flats and McLean Flats have been empty for over a decade and have been under the ownership of Victoria University of Wellington for essentially a decade as well, without any tangible benefit for the community or the students of Victoria University of Wellington. 

A lot has changed since 2014, six years of Labour being one of them. Recent economic and social indicators show the university system and Wellington City are in a state of decline. The prospect of developing the Flats into what was once promised is becoming less likely, and further wasteful spending is expected.

As it is sitting at the moment, it is practically unusable land. If the university did not have to pay further costs for the Flats and could sell them, how many of the redundancies and programme closures could have been prevented? How much high-quality student accommodation could have been built on the site, for example?

The University may resist sales, labelling the flats as something like an unrealised asset; however, it not going to be realised in any foreseeable future. There is no telling how long this recession will last, or for how long this project will stay “paused”, and even once unpaused, the demolition and construction might take two or three years if New Zealand can get workers into the country and retain the workers living here. 

In light of real and projected shortfalls, the University should provide transparency around a full-costed plan and timeline of the redevelopment of the land to the students and the city to assess viability. In absence of such a plan, the University should initiate a campus referendum to investigate off-loading both Flats into the hands of organisations with the budget and resources to make something happen.

As we head into a recession and student numbers decline, and budget shortfalls grow, and accounts look sparse, there are benefits to this. To recover some of the costs associated with the building to date, to save money in the future that would otherwise go into the Gordon Wilson Flats blackhole, and to open the site up to organisations that might better be positioned to develop the land for the benefit of students and the city.

Sign the petition to tell Victoria University of Wellington that we want to see the land freed from the clutches of stagnation and inefficient regulations, and developed into something beneficial.