Mascot Towers: residents ‘homeless’ after complex cracks

Residents of a Sydney unit complex were given just one hour to evacuate.

Residents of a cracking Sydney apartment complex are “homeless” after being given just one hour to evacuate, with no word on when they will be allowed to return.

All 122 units and all but two ground-level shops of Mascot Towers are currently empty after concerns about structural integrity were raised in recent days, shortly after a neighbouring building was completed.

Police and security outside Mascot Towers. Picture: Monique Harmer

The evacuation last night occurred due to “identifiable movements in the basement area” of the building, just months after the Opal Tower debacle in the city’s west.

Engineers became increasingly concerned about cracks in the primary support structure and facade masonry of the decade-old building in the inner-south suburb Mascot.

A notice and email on Thursday warned the building may have to be evacuated before residents were told at 8pm on Friday to be out by 9pm.

“The building’s engineer has carried out a site inspection this afternoon regarding cracking in the transfer slab beams supporting the primary building corner,” a notice from the building manager reads.

Residents outside Mascot Towers. Picture: Monique Harmer

Resident Matthew Harris has been moved out of his unit. Picture: Monique Harmer

“Following this inspection, the engineer has raised concerns over the safety for residents in the building”.

Police last night cordoned off the area and multiple fire trucks were at the scene. Security remains at the building today to ensure residents don’t access the building.

“The general thing going through my mind was ‘what can I leave here and just go buy?’” renter Cameron told AAP on Saturday.

“I have enough socks and jocks to last for a little bit but apart from that, I’ve left TVs and thousands of dollars of computer equipment.

“I’m effectively homeless.”

NSW State Member for Heffron Ron Hoening. Picture: AAP

Some residents stayed with friends, others said their employer had helped out with alternate accommodation while one family spent the night in Mascot Town Hall.

Local MP Ron Hoenig said residents have been told to prepare to be out for at least a week.

He said the owners corporation noticed some cracks in the basement and brought in its own engineers some weeks ago.

Those cracks had widened on Thursday and Friday, leading to the call to evacuate.

“It’s too early to point the finger, they’re not sure yet,” the Labor MP told reporters.

“But it’s suspicious that the new building is not even occupied and the building that’s been up for 12 years all of a sudden has substantial cracks.” Mr Hoenig said state rail engineers inspected the damage and say there is no impact at all to the Mascot Railway Station, which runs underneath the complex. The building manager, Building Management Australia, has been contacted for comment.

“It’s a bit annoying to not really know what is going on and move at short notice but we’ll deal with it,” renter Jade told reporters on Saturday.

Residents take their belongings from the building. Picture: Flavio Brancaleone

A resident reads an evacuation notice with Fire and Rescue NSW firefighters. Picture: Flavio Brancaleone

The unit block consists of two towers connected by a central foundation that contain 131 apartments and nine shops.

NSW Fire and Rescue Superintendent Adam Dewberry told The Australian the evacuation was simply a precaution and that emergency services had “no concern with catastrophic failure of the building”.

“We want to make sure we get on top of this so we can safely assess where to go from here,” Sup Int Dewberry said.

He said state engineers as well as the contracted engineer were monitoring ongoing movement alongside technical rescue emergency crews.

Sup Int Dewberry said the “local emergency management plan” had been enacted and it would manage where tenants would go.

He added the incident was “still evolving” and there was not yet a timeline as to when residents could return home.

A copy of the evacuation notice supplied to residents. Picture: Flavio Brancaleone

Renters have been informed their temporary accommodation won’t be covered by insurance while owners’ alternate housing may also not be covered.

The exact number of tenants that will be evacuated is not known at this stage, nor is it known the extent of the cracking in the building’s foundation.

Resident Rosalyn Lean, 65, who owns a unit in the building, told The Daily Telegraph she had to pack her bags and evacuate by 9pm.

“(It was) defects in the building, it was the joints and in the last few hours the cracks have got bigger … in the car park,” she said.

“We just saw police, they’ve put a notice on the lift saying this might happen, but it’s happened very quickly. I’ve got to find a hotel.”

The incident comes just six months after the 36-storey Opal Tower apartment complex at Sydney’s Olympic Park was first evacuated, after residents heard loud cracking noises, with damage later found on several levels.

The incident prompted the state government to commission a report on the building, spearheaded by three of NSW’s leading engineers.

It found parts of the tower were constructed using “lower-strength concrete” and that “under-designed” critical support beams had burst under extreme pressure.

With AAP