Friday 30th August 2019 was celebration time for the owners of Christchurch’s riverside Cambridge Apartment complex.
Almost nine-years to the day since Christchurch’s first major earthquake, 29 satisfied and happy owners were handed the keys to their newly repaired and strengthened apartments.
Chair of Cambridge Apartments Body Corporate and owners’ representative Murray Woodward said he couldn’t be happier with the way in which Focus Project Services delivered the project.
“After 8.5 years, we are finally at the point where we have our keys back,” Woodward said. “It looks fantastic, and we have 29 very happy owners.”
Focus Project Services took on the challenging project in 2015 when Woodward approached them seeking advice. At the time, they were at an impasse with both EQC and their insurance company and weren't sure of where to go next.
“We were at a standstill, but they negotiated with EQC on our behalf, and then the insurance company, the brokers -- everyone,” explained Woodward.
“Once that was done, they arranged the engineers, architects, and builders, and managed the repair and strengthening work that needed to be done.”
Since first meeting with Woodward, Focus Project Services successfully negotiated, planned and delivered an almost 4-year collaborative design-and-construction project on behalf of the Cambridge Apartments Body Corporate.
Co-founder and Director of Focus Project Services, Nathan Lang agreed that the project was a success.
“We are really pleased with the entire project – we were lucky to have had such great clients and for the trust they placed in us to get the job done,” he explained.
“It’s been a fantastic project to work on,”he said.“They put a lot of faith in us to get on with it, and the result speaks for itself.”
Woodward agreed. “As soon as we met Nathan and his team, we trusted them and knew that they would honour what they said they would do,” he explained.
“They were simply amazing,” said Woodward. “They were consistent with their personal contact with us throughout this entire process – they managed contractors, tradies, professional engineers and architects, as well as the expectations and worries of 29 anxious owners.”
Woodward concluded: “The key thing it comes back to is communication. Having a project manager you can talk to face to face, who understands you, and who is keen to discuss the problems is critical.”
“It’s the best contract agreement and outcome we could have ever hoped for.”
