Multiple buildings sit empty on the Manawatū campus

Walking around campus recently you’ll find many buildings sitting empty, and if you're lucky you’ll spot a few boxes or stacked chairs.  

The old Student Enterprise Room, the Heritage House, the Travel Consultant Room, the Culture and People Block, parts of the Business Studies West building, the HR and Recruitment block – all of these spaces appear empty and have been for some time.   

The empty Student Enterprise room

This comes as the university makes plans to consolidate space across the three campuses.   

The university is looking for ways to cut costs, as last year it lost $45 million and has forecasted a $30 million deficit for this year.  

A Massey University spokesperson said they can reduce costs by reducing their “physical footprint over the coming years”.   

Since 2023, Massey University has cut 280 staff — the single largest layoff in New Zealand university history.      

The university is already sub-leasing buildings to commercial entities for dual use, and may look at doing this more.   

They said this may mean moving staff into other buildings, allowing them to sell or lease buildings and land that are not being used.   

“The staff who previously occupied Heritage House have relocated to a more central location in the Old Registry building.”  

The spokesperson said staff that need to move are told by their manager, and get moving support from the estates team.   

However, wider staff are not always notified about other teams' moves.