Cash-strapped Victoria University of Wellington will spend more than $7 million demolishing a prominent former heritage building described as an “ugly scar on the Wellington skyline”.

The asbestos-ridden Gordon Wilson Flats building last year had its heritage status stripped through a special amendment to the Resource Management Act (RMA), after a years-long bid to bowl the building.

The university has confirmed $7.25m has been budgeted to clear the site, which includes the neighbouring McLean Flats, to develop student accommodation.

A project update document from March shows the demolition work is set to continue until early 2027.

Formerly social housing, the late 1950s building was a Category 1 historic place seen as a symbol of early social housing in New Zealand.

In 2012, tenants were evicted after an engineer’s report deemed it unsafe in an earthquake or strong winds.
It has remained vacant since and has fallen into disrepair.

The university then bought it to develop a multimillion-dollar gateway to the campus above, which later fell through.

The Gordon Wilson Flats in 1978. Photo / NZ Architect

The university said it had “considered all options and unfortunately, restoration is not financially viable”, but the site’s heritage status meant it could not be demolished.

Resource Management Act (RMA) reform Minister Chris Bishop, who has previously labelled the building an “eyesore” and “ugly scar” on the city’s skyline, last year announced the amendment would remove the flats’ protected heritage status and would make demolition a permitted activity under the RMA, allowing demolition without a resource consent.

Early demolition work started late last year.

The university’s chief operating officer, Tina Wakefield, said their plan was to create “warm, affordable and sustainable student accommodation at meaningful scale” on the 320 The Terrace property.

“Failure to demolish would incur ongoing maintenance, security and monitoring costs, escalating remediation or demolition costs if deterioration continues; as well as the opportunity cost of land on the fringe of our Kelburn campus sitting idle and unproductive, delaying value creation,” she said.

“The demolition project is complex and is in a built-up urban environment.”

A timeline of the project states the university is “working through options to fund the redevelopment”.

Victoria University recorded a $7.7m surplus in 2025, after years of financial struggles, with its annual report stating that financial sustainability “remains a challenge”.

It is currently rated as financially “medium-high” risk by the Tertiary Education Commission, down from a “high risk” rating in 2025.

“VUW’s council and management are aware of the challenges the university is facing and that further improvements still need to be made,” the commission’s Gillian Dudgeon said.

Ethan Manera is a Wellington-based journalist covering Wellington issues, local politics and business in the capital. He can be emailed at ethan.manera@nzme.co.nz.

Azaria Howell is a multimedia reporter working from Parliament’s press gallery. She joined NZME in 2022 and became a Newstalk ZB political reporter in late 2024, with a keen interest in public service agency reform and government spending.