Work starts on first sections at Ravenswood, three years after going on sale

Tuesday, 10 October 2017

Infrastructure going into the Ravenswood subdivision north of Christchurch.

Work on the first residential sections at North Canterbury's new Ravenswood subdivision will start within weeks, more than three years after they first went on sale.

The 1500-home subdivision's first 93 sections should be ready for their owners by mid-2018.

An artist's impression of the Ravenswood subdivision's commercial area.

The development is being built on a 150-hectare site State Highway 1 site, opposite the town of Pegasus and just north of Woodend. It has a large commercial area.

Developers Ravenswood Developments Ltd said financiers BNZ had given the go-ahead and work on the sections would start late this month or early November.

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Work has been under way since April on the commercial part of the subdivision, which faces the state highway.

The first businesses to open at Ravenswood will be a BP petrol station with a Wild Bean cafe in mid-2018, followed by a McDonald's restaurant in November 2018 and a New World supermarket in late 2019. All have bought their sites.

Ravenswood Developments is majority owned by Infinity Investment Group, which developed Pegasus before losing control of it over unpaid loans in 2012. Receivers sold Pegasus to Todd Property Group. Infinity is developing the Yaldhurst Park subdivision in northwest Christchurch.

Infinity launched Ravenswood with section sales in 2014, including a one-day online auction of sites in June 2014. The company spent $1.7 million on costs including town planning, resource consents, engineering design and geotechnical testing.

The company then tried to sell the development after founder Bob Robertson died, citing the need for a bigger developer with more financial muscle, but was unsuccessful. They restarted the project last year after securing bank funding.

Ravenswood Developments general manager Paul Croft said they were 'very pleased' to have pre-sold more than 100 residential sections in stage one. They expect titles for the first 93 sections to be available next July.

The company is yet to announce their chosen contractor to build the sections. City Care, owned by Christchurch City Council, is building the 13 hectares of commercial sites.

The residential sections range in size from 310 square metres to more than 700sqm. They are priced at $99,000 to $199,000. House and land packages on offer from six house-building companies.

Bike trails, walking tracks and neighbourhood parks are in the town plan.

Sections are, on average, cheaper than equivalent sites at Pegasus, which is slightly bigger than Ravenswood with 1630 sections.

One two-hectare commercial site is for sale and Croft said they were looking for tenants for the remaining commercial sites.

They aimed to create an 'attractive, functional retail precinct', he said. As well as retailers, it would suit services such as a gym, medical centre and childcare centre, he said. Light industrial sites that face Wards Rd to the north end of Ravenswood are being sold.

According to a Waimakariri District Council economic and business profile, the total population of the Woodend, Pegasus and Ravenswood area is expected to reach 10,000 by 2031, up from about 5750 in 2015.