Lakeview: read the full 10 part Crux investigation

As this year's local elections roll ever closer Crux is publishing, for the first time, our full ten part investigation into the Queenstown Lakes District Council's catastrophic $2 billion Lakeview luxury apartment project. 

The project has seen an $80 million block of prime central Queenstown real estate transformed from a community asset to a $100 million black hole of debt, delays and unanswered questions. When the deal was first conceived back in 2017 the land was worth $42 million, but now almost a decade later, no significant money has been received by the council, no construction work has taken place, and for the council there appears to be no escape even they they have spent up to $100 million on the empty site and associated Lakeview projects.

We explore how an inexperienced council manager built a speculative property deal that put all of the project risk at the feet of local ratepayers. Supervised only by the council's CEO, under a controversial sole delegated authority, the gamble has crashed and burned leaving a smart, sophisticated group of Australian property developers with the deal of the century.

Local ratepayers face only the costs and an uncertain 20 year, secret deal that may or may not produce some mitigation to these disastrous early years.

Here's all ten parts of our investigation, produced using Google's investigative journalism tool Pinpoint. Our findings highlight a secretive council culture where elected councillors' attempts to challenge the Lakeview project have been blocked at every turn. 

Was this just a naive, incompetent and failed attempt by public servants to "play the property game" or will future discoveries expose a more sinister aspect to Lakeview?

Read our ten part investigation and make up your own mind. And of course - make sure to vote on October 11 in what may turn out to be the most pivotal local election for our district in decades.

All ten parts are published on Substack, with no paywall and free access. The Crux website also carries links to all ten parts.

Part 1. Early mistakes and a Flawed Vision.

Part 2.  Lakeview's only NZ backer Pulls Out.

Part 3.  Broken Promises.

Part 4.  A Secret Four Year Extension.

Part 5. The Council's Hidden Contract Revealed.

Part 6. Did Crazy Marketing Kill Lakeview?

Part 7.  CEO Holds the Key to $80 million Win or Lose.

Part 8. Lakeview's Relationship with the News Media

Part 9.  Lakeview after Theelen.

Part 10.  The Final Countdown.

Post Script. The Australians: "A Deal's a Deal."