Massey’s Albany campus is leasing out – but not telling students who’s moving in

More spaces on the Auckland campus are being prepared for lease — but students are being left in the dark about who the new tenants are, and what the changes mean for them. 

Following the arrival of the Police recruits in June, parts of the Massey Business School as well as the Quad A and Quad B buildings are now being prepared for lease. But the university has declined to say who the potential new occupants will be.  

The leasing is part of Massey’s ongoing strategy to reduce its physical footprint by renting out surplus space.  

In May, Massive reported on a lack of communication food vendors on campus received about leasing changes. And now, everyone is feeling the squeeze.  

Postgrad student Kyaw Thu Ra said he “lost a place to study” following the lease-related changes in Quad B. He had relied on the building’s labs for after-hours study, particularly once the library closed, and said the closure happened without warning or suitable alternatives.  

Kyaw said when he and other master’s students contacted Student Services, they were advised to reach out to the maintenance office for access to the IC building’s study space.  

But the catch — these labs aren’t accessible on weekdays before 6pm, and Kyaw said his request for the hours to be extended had since gone unanswered.  

“Students are the lifeblood of this university, and it’s disappointing that this change was made without proper communication or consideration,” he said.  

Ryan Olivier, the student association's events and clubs lead, described clubs being tossed around by the university.

Olivier said he was told that due to the arrival of police recruits, some clubs would lose bookings at the recreation centre on certain dates.  

“The bookings were already cancelled, and students were showing up to their bookings without them actually being available” 

He said he followed up with the recreation centre multiple times before the changes were implemented but didn’t receive a response until the issue was escalated to Massey’s property manager.  

“No communication is actually happening directly to the students and the groups that are being impacted. The decisions are just being made without really having discussions before.” 

Olivier had asked the university to use different spaces he believed were unused, however, said he was denied in case the university “might need it.” 

He was frustrated over how space was being allocated – particularly the Student Plaza and Enterprise Room. 

Olivier said the Enterprise Room, with access to the entire outdoor sound system, had sat empty for a long time despite his efforts to turn it into a student space.  

Eventually, the space was turned into a temporary religious space, and Olivier and his team were no longer allowed to use the outdoor sound system or the space even when unoccupied. 

While Olivier believed it’s a good thing for the university to make money off unused buildings, he believes there should be more consideration on the impact it will have on students.  

“Why is it that the groups that are meant to be benefiting from all of that spending are the ones who are deprioritised to make room for external providers who are going to be here for maybe five years.”  

In a statement to Massive, a Massey spokesperson said the police recruits don’t have any more guaranteed access to the recreation facilities than other external groups.  

“While we are reducing our physical footprint, this has been done in a considered way to allow us to accommodate future forecast growth,” the spokesperson said.  

They claimed some clubs had not been showing up to their scheduled bookings, which led to spaces being reallocated.  

“On the rare occasions where the Recreation Centre needs to change a booking, this is communicated to the Club and Events at Te Tira Ahu Pae, and it is then their responsibility to pass this information on to appropriate club representatives”.