A $200 million makeover for Invercargill CBD including demolition of a city block is being weighed

Thursday, 28 March 2019

The deep south city of Invercargill may get its biggest makeover yet if the green light is given to demolish a central city block to make way for a $200 million retail and office development.

New Zealand's largest privately-owned transport company, H W Richardson, based in Southland, is the key player in the proposed Invercargill city development pictured in this illustration.

The project is being driven by Southland's big transport group H W Richardson that has partnered with Invercargill City Council to form development company HWCP Management.

HWCP proposes to demolish most of the block bound by Esk, Tay, Dee and Kelvin streets and replace it with a development which includes shops, a dining precinct, offices, apartments, a medical centre, a multi-level carpark and maybe also a hotel.

The city block includes several buildings with class two heritage protection in Invercargill's district plan and a couple of Heritage New Zealand category two buildings.

This aerial view shows the scale of the block to be demolished if resource consent is granted for the $200m retail and office development by HWCP.

* HWCP Management Ltd's Invercargill CBD plan under spotlight

* ICC to consider more funding for CBD redevelopment**

Invercargill City Mayor Tim Shadbolt said there had been huge public support for the development.

* HWCP Management Ltd adds new hotel to its planned CBD project

HWCP proposes to demolish the Southland Times building. a category 2 building but keep its facade, and demolish another category two, the old Government Life building.

It bills the project as 'a once in a lifetime opportunity to give Invercargill a bright and bustling city centre where all manner of business and interaction can take place.'

Invercargill City Mayor Tim Shadbolt has said there has been huge public support for the development.

The hearing panel was chaired by John Maassen who asked about retaining more historical building elements in Esk Street. Pictured are some of the north facing buildings on Esk Street,

Up until early March the council had spent $5.45m on the development with most of that on buying land and buildings.

A resource consent hearing has recently been held, and if granted, HWCP said on its website it planned to start demolition this year with a development programme of three to five years..

Demolition of most of the buildings bound by Tay, Esk, Dee and Kelvin streets in central Invercargill is a critical part of the development. Pictured are buildings on Tay Street.

If a resource consent is granted HWCP plans to start demolition this year with a development programme of three to five years..

The estimated development cost is $200m.

At the resource consent hearing the city's premier department story H&J Smith has opposed the development after initially supporting it.

H&J Smith told the hearing at worst its business would fall by 20 per cent during the time of the development as people vacated the CBD, local media reported.

Other businesses could move to other locations but because of its size -10,000 square metres - that was not an option.

However the vast majority of the 380 businesses represented by the Southland Chamber of Commerce back the development.

The hearing panel was chaired by John Maassen who asked about retaining more historical building elements in Esk Street.

A HWCP representative said historical pieces which best fitted the plans were included but some blocked a lot of the development's potential.

HWCP also confirmed at the hearing that building a hotel was part of its long term plan.

One of the HWCP directors is Southland businessman Geoff Thompson who set up the Distinction Hotel chain. He told the hearing the hotel would be a boost for Invercargill and not take business from other hotels.

He said the Invercargill CBD development would cost more than one in Auckland but return less, but Invercargill was his home and he wanted to see it thrive.

HWCP said on its website it would need to source funding for $160m to cover retail, dining, carparking and shared facilities.

The remaining $40m would come from other entities funding the development of their office buildings themselves within the block.

The benefits for Invercargill included a labour spend of $80m and 400 to 500 new jobs for the development phase.

The centre was expected to bring more visitors to the region and give them a reason to stay longer, as well as increasing local spending.

'We all feel a great connection to Invercargill, but we need to acknowledge that it's lost its heart.

'This project is designed to give Invercargill its heart back,' HWCP said.