Business to move if council sale for housing proposal goes ahead

Tuesday, 17 August 2021

ZUMO owner Allen Chambers said he was likely to relocate his Rutherford St Cafe to Richmond should the proposed sale of land to Kāinga Ora go ahead.

One of the businesses at the site of a potential city centre housing development in Nelson has stated its intentions to move if the plans go ahead.

On Monday, the Nelson City Council announced a proposal to potentially sell land in the city centre to government housing agency Kāinga Ora – for the building of up to 175 social and affordable homes.

The land in question includes two sites, one from 69 to 101 Achilles St, along with 42 Rutherford St.

The site at Achilles Ave could accommodate 125 homes, with the site on Rutherford St having the potential for 50 – each ranging between five and eight storeys with the ground floor set aside for commercial or community activities.

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However, the owners of ZUMO Coffee House, who lease the land off council at one of the proposed sites on Rutherford St, said if it goes ahead they won’t be staying.

In a public post on the business’s Facebook page, it was stated ZUMO would seek to relocate its operations to Richmond on or before the June 2024 lease expiration.

Concept images of Bridge St including aspects from the council's spatial plan and potential Kainga Ora housing projects.

“We understand that this is essentially a done deal. Our plan is to avoid participating in the retail portion of the planned development.”

ZUMO owner Allen Chambers said the addition of social housing to the block would create a “difficult environment' for a hospitality business to function well.

“When you’re running hospitality, your job is to keep everything pleasant. That’s the fundamental issue, people go to hospitality to have fun and relax.

“We’re not against housing, it’s the mixed-use component that for hospitality is difficult, because we’ve got literally hundreds of people coming through our building every day … It will create sub-optimal, difficult situations.”

An aerial view of the proposed site at Achilles Ave at the bottom of the photo. (File photo)

Chambers said the announcement had come as a surprise, as they had previously indicated to council an interest in buying the property – stretching back to about 2011.

Mayor Rachel Reese was unable to be contacted on Tuesday after attending a housing summit in Auckland, but group manager for corporate services Nikki Harrison made a statement on behalf of the council.

“We have been clear that council will be seeking the views of the community before it makes any decision on whether to sell land to Kāinga Ora or not. Both parties agree that should any development proceed, it will involve high-quality apartment buildings, with urban design that fits in with the local area.

“The proposal is part of our plans to bring more residents to our city centre and address issues with housing affordability.”

The council did not provide answers to questions around the effects of social housing in the central city.

Property developer Gaire Thompson said putting social housing in the city centre was “an airy-fairy idealistic view of things” and was not going to work.

Peter, a Kāinga Ora tenant, looks around his newly-redeveloped apartment in Dunedin.

“If you're trying to make Nelson a nice and attractive place for people and businesses wanting to come here, that’s the wrong way to go about it.

“We’ve got a couple [of developments] in the pipeline, the question is if people will still want to live in town [if it goes ahead]?”

Thompson said he hoped the council would pay close attention to the results of the upcoming consultation.

“I hope there is proper public consultation and it’s not just a fait accompli … there has to be serious intent on their behalf to listen to the people who raise valid objections.”

Community Action Nelson (CAN) member Kindra Douglas said it was important to maintain retail at the proposed sites, and there was no reason to think those businesses would not continue as normal.

“CAN would generally support more affordable options right at the city centre where all the amenity values are just a step outside the door.

“Overall we’re really excited about what this kind of project could bring to the city centre – we need more people living there.”

Along with the buildings at the proposed sites, at 69-101 Achilles Ave there were also currently 12 leased car parks and 14 carpool parks.

According to a council statement the 12 leased parks would be removed and replaced with housing, while the future location of the carpool parks would be determined under the Parking Strategy.

If the developments went ahead, some parking would be provided at Achilles Ave but probably not at Rutherford St.

“The development sites are in a central city location that is supported by a network of active transport connections, and public transport.

“Affordable housing necessitates that valuable land for housing cannot feasibly be dedicated to parking spaces for all units.”