Columbard pulls them in

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Thursday 5 August 2004

An apartment block with units the same size as prison cells is filling up fast.

By The Landlord

More than 100 people are squeezed into tiny units in the 18-level Columbard tower on Wyndham St, a project being marketed as a corporate crash pad.

But demand is so strong that once building work is finished, more than 200 people will be living in the petite rooms and guests who were expected to stay just a few nights have booked in for an entire year.

For between $220 and $295 a week, or just over $11,000 a year, residents are dwelling in a tight 16sq m unit, an area which could accommodate about four double beds or three cars.

A Corrections Department representative said double-bunk prison cells were usually about 16sq m but it depended on the age of the prison.

Some single-person cells in older facilities were as tiny as 5sq m, the average New Zealand cell was 8sq m but units were usually double this size when two prisoners were sharing a cell.

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