Wellington City Council has voted to strip the heritage status off several buildings to make way for more housing and other developments.
It means the capital will finally rid itself of a number of old buildings that many see as eyesores.
The Gordon Wilson Flats in Te Aro have long been described as a stain on the city.
The building's heritage listing prevented its owner, Victoria University, from tearing it down - until now.
On Thursday, councillors voted to scrap the heritage protections on the earthquake-prone building, along with a range of other buildings including the Miramar Gas Tank, and Olympus Apartments.
And it's got Wellington locals divided.
"It feels vindictive to basically strip back heritage listings when you don't need to. It feels like revenge frankly," said Jane O'Loughlin, spokesperson for Live Wellington.
Meanwhile, Luke Somervell, City for People's spokesperson, strongly disagreed.
"We have to have a serious conversation about heritage protection in this country. We've got an old fuel tank in Miramar that's protected - it's ridiculous!" he told Newshub.
Councillors also voted to reduce character areas, so that more apartments and townhouses can be built in the inner-city suburbs where people want to live.
But O'Loughlin wants to keep those suburbs the way they are.
"One of the things that attracts people to Wellington is the historic areas, the charming areas, the old wooden houses on the hillside and that's under threat now," she said.
Somervell told Newshub that belief has exacerbated the housing crisis.
"The reason we are in this crisis is because there is not enough homes for people and that's because we've restricted the amount of housing we can build in places like this," he said.
