Garland Lofts, Zetland apartment block in secret evacuation last year due to building defects
An apartment block in Zetland has been vacant for eight months after residents were evacuated in late 2018 due to building defects emanating from a leaking roof.
The Garland Lofts apartment complex at 19 Gadigal Avenue in Zetland was vacated in late 2018, just before the Opal Tower disaster over Christmas.
The building, made up of 30 warehouse conversion-style apartments, was inspected in February this year by staff of the City of Sydney who said it had "extensive and severe water damage."
“The water damage caused the failure of the internal fire-rated construction throughout several apartments," a City of Sydney spokesman told the Sydney Morning Herald.
"The fire-rated construction is required to separate individual apartments and common areas during a fire."
Much like the Mascot Towers, The Garland Lofts, Zetland building was constructed in 2009, meaning owners are not protected by the five year building insurance guarantee following its construction.
The block was built by a company called Garland 204 Pty Ltd, who went into creditors voluntary liquidation in 2014.
The company was directed by Phillip Bartlett.
The SMH reported on its front page that there had been "ongoing litigation between multiple parties over defects."
The Herald stressed it did not seek to attribute responsibility to any particular party.
Garland Loft two bedrooms apartments were initially priced from $385,000.
There hasn't been a sale in the complex since 2017 when a one bedder sold for $650,000.
It was the fifth purchase in the block however for developer AIL Property Group who have laid out $3.075 million on the five units.
Building defects being noticed in a number of apartment complexes are now starting to become a weekly update across Sydney.
Last week cracks appeared in Clemton Park Village in Campsie which has support barriers installed in the car park.
Opal Tower residents were evacuated over the Christmas period last year as the building started cracking, while the most recent case of evacuations was at Mascot Towers where the building has been described as 'sinking.'
During the 2008 marketing of the Zetland apartments, the managing director of estate agents CBRE David Milton, noted to the SMH that professionals and first-home buyers were increasingly eyeing the town centre and its immediate environs.
"What would people choose: an affordable new unit with a lot of space and a big balcony with well-planned inside-outside living, or a tiny unit in a 40-year-old crumbling block that needs a lot of work in the eastern suburbs?" asked Milton.
"We're finding a lot of people are coming here out of the eastern suburbs. The future is very, very positive."
