Confusion as Chinese backed Queenstown 'housing solution' hits problems

A massive Chinese backed Queenstown development promoted as “solving the local housing crisis” has hit problems and appears to be having trouble paying construction contractors.

The Jade Lake project was launched with great fanfare back in 2018, offering more than 100 residential units in the Queenstown suburb of Fernhill. But now construction seems to have slowed to a crawl with at least two local contractors saying they are owed large sums of money.

Jade Lake today – largely unfinished and years behind schedule.

And the two Queenstown business addresses linked to the project appear to have been abandoned, with one having a mailbox stuffed with demands from credit collection agency Baycorp.

In the CBD, 37 Robins Road, is listed as the main address for Triple Connection Ltd, its sole director, Mr Min Yang, and its sole shareholder, Min, or 'Homy', Yang, featured at the launch of the Jade Lake project standing shoulder to shoulder with officials from the Chinese Embassy.

Min 'Homy' Yang, left, with Chinese Embassy officials at the 2018 Jade Lake launch.

Crux reported in 2021 that Min Yang appeared in the Queenstown District Court for breaching Covid lockdown travel restrictions. He told police that his occupation was a bus driver. He was convicted for the breach on December 6, 2021, and fined $1,000.

Queenstown contractor Louis Wu says his company Top Garden Ltd is owed more than $80,000 by Triple Connection Ltd for retaining wall work at the Jade Lake site. But he’s had to spend more than that in a legal battle where the lawyers are arguing over whether Triple Connection Ltd and/or Jade Lake Queenstown Ltd are liable to repay the debt.

Louis Wu of Top Garden Ltd at Jade Lake – owed more than $80,000 with an even higher legal bill.

Min Yang is a shareholder of Jade Lake. But the bottom line is that both Top Garden Ltd and another creditor, Concept Builders Ltd, say they are both owed money, and both have legal bills greater than what they are owed. Concept Builders claims it is owed $134,000.

Concept Builders is featured for their successful track record in sales material being used by local real estate firm Colliers to sell a small number of $3 million, five-bedroom apartments that make up stage one of the larger Jade Lake development. Colliers has not replied to questions from Crux about the status of Jade Lake.

Most of the land still stands empty and nobody spoken to by Crux could say when, or if, the next stage would go ahead.

Workers on site referred Crux to the Auckland based project manager for Jade Lake, Dazhi (Frank) Lang, however he had no definite date for further stages to get built. Mr Lang said he was employed by Triple Connection Ltd but had no idea, or responsibility, as to who gets paid and who does not get paid.

When Crux visited 37 Robins Road this week it was abandoned and overgrown. The property is owned by Robins Queenstown Ltd, a company owned by Xiaoling Peng with a company address of 36 Perkins Road, Frankton, Queenstown.

37 Robins Road – the address for many companies linked to Mr Min Yang.

Robins Queenstown Ltd has plans with the Queenstown Lakes District Council to build 22 visitor accommodation units on the site. A more recent address for companies linked to Min Yang is 110B Wynyard Crescent, just above the Jade Lake development. But that property also was empty with no sign of anyone living there.

Caption – 110B Wynyard Crescent – another empty company address.

Min Yang is also listed as a director or shareholder of a number of other companies linked to 37 Robins Road.

Lawyers acting for both sides spoke to Crux today and the picture is confused. Neither side seems able to agree on anything.

Crux even received an anonymous email prior to the publication of this article attempting to discredit both Top Garden Ltd and Concept Builders using phrases such as “bad rats” and “evildoer always complain first”.

Whatever the rights and wrongs of the case it is certain that the Jade Lake project is nowhere near what the Chinese Embassy promoted and launched back in 2018 – a solution to the local housing crisis.

It seems more likely that local contractors are paying a high personal price for market failures and uncertainty much higher up the feeding chain.

They've told Crux that the last thing they want to do is to put prices up. Instead the plea is simple - the developers need to pay for work that gets done.

Main image: The original Jade Lake concept offered to solve Queenstown’s local housing crisis with more than 100 residential units.