Invercargill CBD plans unveiled
Monday, 18 June 2018
Demolition work for a $200 million CBD redevelopment in Invercargill should begin early next year and it will take between three and five years to complete.
The massive project is expected to generate up to 500 jobs a year during the construction phase, and developers will have to look outside the region for some of those workers, while hundreds more homes may need to be built to accommodate them.
Plans for the new retail precinct in the CBD were unveiled by HWCP Management director Scott O'Donnell at Transport World on Monday, but the anchor tenant is yet to be locked down.
O'Donnell said the centre of town was currently 'empty and run down', and he wanted the development to attract Southland shoppers to Invercargill, not Dunedin and elsewhere.
About $75m of equity was needed, he said.
'We want a small amount of investors to come together and own it with a fair bit of bank debt.'
Discussions were in place with numerous outfits.
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Features of the new development would include:
- Covered car park for 1000 cars split over four levels. Top of car park to be used for events such as a farmers market and car shows.
- Boutique eatery.
- Retail shops ranging from anchor retailer to small boutique store.
- Medical centre with scope to include ambulance bay.
- Open-air laneways that connect the food and retail precincts to the offices and medical centre.
- Outdoor courtyard for people to enjoy.
- Offices and apartments overlooking the CBD.
Resource consent for the development is expected to be lodged by the end of July and demolition work should begin early next year, O'Donnell said.
Transition planning was taking place with existing tenants on the block and it is unknown how many will be part of the new development.
Discussions were under way with a possible anchor tenant but an announcement could be two months away.
It would not be K Mart, which is building elsewhere in the city.
The inner-city block development will be one of the biggest retail redevelopments of an already established area in New Zealand.
It involves knocking down the majority of buildings in the rectangular block between Esk, Dee, Tay and Kelvin streets, and rebuilding.
It will be a complete upgrade for Invercargill's CBD and the aim is to make it the heart of the city where people went to meet, eat and socialise.
The plans will incorporate the existing Kelvin Hotel, Bank of New South Wales building and Reading Cinemas.
The cinema would be 'turned around' so the public could enter from the inside the complex, O'Donnell said.
A business case was being developed to pay for the massive development, with the funding options being both public and private.
He expected an additional $440,000 in rates to be collected by the city council once the development was completed, 'effectively decreasing the portion required to be paid by households'.
The Southland Times building facade would be retained and attached to the new build.
The facade on the Bonsai Restaurant and Quest store building on Esk St, and the facade on the Beauty and Beyond building on Kelvin St would also be retained.
The retention of the facades would determine on funding being obtained, he said.
The category one Bank of New South Wales building, not owned by HWCP, will not be demolished, but the old Government Life building on the corner of Esk and Dee streets, which is an earthquake risk, will be demolished.
HWCP Management Ltd consists of two main players - privately owned transport and investment company HW Richardson Group and the Invercargill City Council.