The run-down office building that's now running out of space

“I guess I just want some assurance that by stealth we are not doing up our current building when we could eventually be out of the building."

The Invercargill City Council’s Esk St civic building requires significant repair work.

Invercargill Mayor Nobby Clark says they will know by August about what other councils might be keen to be part of a potential shared office development.

The current Invercargill City Council administration building has been deemed problematic given it is in need of significant repair work.

The council is holding off spending a lot of money on the much-needed repair work as it continues to weigh up its options. It potentially includes being part of a shared development with other councils.

Invercargill City Council CEO Michael Day has also now revealed they are running out of space in its Esk St building for the current staff numbers working there.

Day’s comments came after Mayor Clark, at a meeting on Tuesday, questioned some of the recent work that has happened in the building.

Clark was weary of any spending when the future of the building was still up in the air.

“I guess I just want some assurance that by stealth we are not doing up our current building when we could eventually be out of the building, even if it is three or four years from now,” Clark said.

He added that wasn’t to say they would be moving elsewhere quickly. Clark indicated they should have an idea by the end of August as to “what other councils are going to step up and be part of a shared facility”.

“We’ve done a fit-out on the first floor and it seems we are doing fit-outs on other floors and shuffling people around,” Clark said.

“It just worries me a little bit, how much of that is remedial work which we initially discussed, which is things like heating systems and leaking roofs, and how much of it is just fitting out accommodation as different sections move around the building, given that we’ve got a very short time frame to potentially move elsewhere quickly.

Council’s infrastructure group manager Erin Moogan confirmed the work the Project management Office was undertaking was simply about “keeping the lights on” and keeping up with compliance around health and safety.

CEO Michael Day then talked about some work needing to be done to fit staff into the building, and it wasn’t about repair work.

“All the work is about; we’ve hit capacity in relation to having to stretch the building to fit people in.

“We’ve worked out we’ve got space on certain floors and level one was one of those floors we’ve identified we’ve got space on it, so we’ve managed to squeeze a lot more people onto that floor than were previously there.

“To finish that work we are trying to get more onto level three as well. It is probably a case that we’ve been successful with our recruitment strategy, and we are now the stage that we’ve run out of space for our current staff load.”

In November 2020 the council agreed to budget $16m towards a “seriously overdue” upgrade of the civic administration building.

However, it was later revealed the likely cost for the Esk St building refurbishment had climbed to a forecasted $27.9m.

The work was initially scheduled to be completed this year but was put on hold as the council works through the various options.

The corner of Tay St and Kelvin St - which was previously earmarked for SIT apartments - has been floated as one potential location for a new shared civic development.

As has been the now vacant former H&J Smith Department store site between Esk St and Tay St with the prospect of weaving in a town square type offering into the development.

A civic building was initially floated for the city block development, on the corner Tay St and Dee St where the Bank of NSW building is.

In November Mayor Clark told The Tribune that he had fielded interest from developers who would be keen to take on the council’s Esk St building if the council moved elsewhere.

He said the interest centred on turning the council building into apartments.

“I’ve had approaches from developers who are happy to buy it. And the rationale for buying it is it is not earthquake-prone, it’s a solid building. So that’s a huge advantage,” Clark said at the time.

“You could gut that out and put some really nice inner city apartments in there. Both developers have said to me that is what they would be interested in.”