Scaffolding is going up around one of Auckland’s oldest residential towers as The Pines apartment building in Epsom, built at the end of the 1960s, gets new double-glazed windows.
A sign outside the building, says: “In line with our policy of keeping the iconic Pines apartments modern and relevant, we are currently upgrading to the latest European-designed, thermally efficient window frames and high-tech glass.”
The project has a completion date of around the middle or end of the year.
The Pines has 40 apartments and sits on about 2.7 hectares of land on the south-eastern slopes of Mount Eden.
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Real estate agent Paul Studman, from Barfoot & Thompson, has a couple of apartments on the market and said the windows would have a laminate that added protection and thermal quality.
He told OneRoof sometimes people saw scaffolding and assumed a leaky building, but the windows were simply being replaced as they had just about completed their lifetime and it was time for an upgrade.
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“After 54 years of the same windows, which are an aluminium single glazing, they are going to go to the state-of-the-art double glazing and replace all the frames.”
The management structure at the Pines was a little different to more modern unit title apartment buildings, he said.
Owners buy shares in a private company, and Studman said the management structure had always been “quite onto the case” in keeping on top of maintenance.
Seeking $3.45m in The Pines is an eighth floor two-bedroom apartment. Photo / Supplied
A two-bedroom apartment on first floor of The Pines has an asking price of just under $3m. Photo / Supplied
The window replacements were very much an upgrade with no other issue, he said, adding he had sold apartments in the building since the 1990s.
The building is set in park-like grounds with walking tracks meandering through, and the apartments were very tightly-held, he said.
There was still an original owner living there who bought five decades ago and raised a family there, he said.
Some people had chosen to move out while the work was underway but not everyone and people were not being forced to move, he said.
Like any apartment building, special levies were sometimes charged but Studman said the Pines management had kept those to a minimum over the years.
The windows were the largest undertaking by the Pines and were not an ongoing cost: “It’s just keeping on top of maintenance.”
The Pines is one of Auckland's most recognisable apartment towers. Photo / Supplied
Studman has two two-bedroom apartments advertised for sale, one on the eighth floor for $3.45 million and an “entry opportunity” on the first floor for $2.295m.
The more expensive apartment is being marketed as having “views extraordinaire”.
The marketing describes an ever-changing and panoramic view over the Waitemata and Manukau harbours.
“A true testament to its creator Selwyn Robinson, The Pines is more than just an apartment complex or address.
“It’s an unparalleled and unrepeatable living concept in apartment living.”
The listing goes on to explain owners get a share of 27,645sqm of grounds which include native and exotic plantings, many of them planted from around the 1850s.
There is also a 20-metre swimming pool, a pool pavilion for entertaining family and guests and an all-weather tennis court.
The other apartment is being marketed as having extensive garden views, a sunny aspect, two bedrooms, a study/office, two bathrooms and two terraces.
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