If you take a walk down Hereford St you might experience two opposite moods.

Starting from the river going towards Colombo St, people come in and out of a cafe, a yoga studio and a hotel on one side, and the retail precinct is bustling with construction workers on the other side. The mood is positive: Christchurch is getting back on its feet.

But as you cross Colombo St towards Manchester St, the old BNZ House stand in contrast with its broken windows, graffitied walls and boarded-up entrances.

Dean Kozanic/Fairfax NZ Squatters and vandals have damaged the seemingly abandoned building at 159 Hereford St.

This one will go. After years of inaction, the building has been sold and the new owners plan to demolish it.

HEREFORD ST DARK SIDE

As you keep walking, it gets quieter and the mood gets bleak.

Dust billows from vacant lots on the right side while seemingly abandoned buildings are inexplicably still standing on the left side, more than four years after the 2011 earthquakes.

You would not want to walk there alone at night.

Vagrants and vandals keep breaking into the hollow buildings despite the owners' attempts to restrict entrance with locks and wood panels, and regular police intervention.

That stretch of Hereford St is one of the rare CBD spots the Government has left out of the blueprint.

Developer Denis Harwood owns 161 Hereford, an office block that was converted into hotel apartments just before the quakes.

He also has a stake in the heritage brick building next door, Hereford Chambers.

Both buildings are fenced and boarded up and 161's windows are blank, broken or graffitied.

Yet, Harwood plans to have them up to post-quake building standards and renovated by the end of next year.

It has taken so long because of legal battles with Hereford Chambers' previous owners and consenting issues at 161 but construction should start in a few weeks, he says.

The hotel is "certainly not abandoned" but vandals and vagrants keep breaking into it. This caused tens of thousands of dollars worth of damage inside.

Hereford Chambers has been kept in better shape, with Heritage New Zealand pitching in to help with preservation work and supporting its restoration, Harwood says.

"We worked very hard to save this building. It was originally going to be demolished."

Despite delays, Harwood is feeling "very positive" about that side of Hereford St.

"There is some exciting development happening across the road, bringing vitality back to the street."

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AUTHORITIES POWERLESS AGAINST VANDALS AND VAGRANTS

Malvern House, at 159 Hereford St, remains a concern.

Risk of glass fall, dead pigeons and human faeces inside are "creating a health hazard", Harwood says.

The owner, investor Vincent Chew, declined to answer questions about his plans for the building.

Harwood says police have made several arrests in connection to this building but "you can't stop people from breaking in".

Sergeant Greg Hume, of the the police's central community safety team, says police have intervened on the site a few times this year.

Several empty central city buildings have attracted vandals and homeless people, he says.

"From time to time, we'll rattle doors to see if buildings are still secure and we notify the owners if we can find them."

Even when owners take all necessary precautions to restrict entry, "if someone wants to get in, they'll usually find a way", Hume says.

Not far from Hereford St, the old Caffe Roma on Oxford Tce is another example of what happens when you leave a building empty for four and a half years.

Vandals and taggers have trashed the place inside and out, despite police regularly checking on the building.

"We don't have the resources and it's not our role to stand outside vacant buildings at all times," Hume says.

It appears the council and the Government are unable to take action.

A Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority spokeswoman says it is the private owners' responsibility to protect their buildings.

The Christchurch City Council has a range of enforcement tools but seems to use them sparsely.

Inspections and enforcement acting unit manager Tracey Weston says the council can issue a notice to any building assessed as being dangerous, earthquake-prone or insanitary.

Safety for occupants and the public is the key concern.

The council can put up a hoarding or fence to prevent people from approaching the building and require the property owner to remediate unsanitary conditions or vermin infestation.

In extreme cases, the council can also apply for a building consent to demolish a building.

Not all empty buildings have become derelict.

Closer to the retail precinct, the old Crossing building and the Pagoda on Colombo St have been well preserved in their post-quake state.

According to leasing agent Nick Doig, the owners plan to renovate them and they could be done when the retail precinct comes together next year.

ANOTHER TAGGED MESS

A few blocks away on Lichfield St, the Lincoln House building is another tagged mess.

Devonia Realty's Peter Francis says the owners have just reached an agreement with their insurer after four and a half years.

The owners, wealthy offshore investors known as the Hong family, are looking into retaining the building and converting it into a hotel or a hospitality space once they receive insurance money.

Francis admits the building has become "a bit of an eyesore".

"It's a shame because it's been secured but there's not much you can do about it."

The entire ground floor was boarded up and doors have been secured "but people still get in".

"If it's empty, some idiot will come and do stupid things to it.

"People were sleeping rough inside last year and it was a bit disappointing that they weren't moved on by the authorities."

The owners will need to spend "an awful lot of money" to remediate graffiti damage, Francis says.

Despite all this, Lichfield St remains an "attractive location" and he expects to see a lot of interest in the building.