Popeyes plans first South Island restaurant

Tuesday, 13 May 2025

An artist’s depiction of a prospective Popeyes drive-through in Christchurch between Moorhouse Ave and Bath St.

A giant in the American fried chicken industry is eyeing up central Christchurch for one of its first drive-through restaurants in the South Island*.

Tahua Properties Ltd is seeking resource consent to build a Popeyes opposite the Durham St New World supermarket - between Moorhouse Ave and Bath St - as well as a separate drive-through Starbucks cafe.

In a resource consent application lodged in April, the developer has asked the Christchurch City Council to allow both chain restaurants to operate 24 hours, seven days a week.

The Popeyes and Starbucks drive-through restaurants would be built on the same site and run 24 hours, seven days a week, but operate as independent businesses.

Instead of having just one entrance to the site - as per council rules - the applicants wanted customers to use either Moorhouse Ave, Durham St, or Bath St to access the car park or separate drive-throughs.

Each restaurant would have seats for 64 patrons and share 27 car parks, including two mobility spaces, and an additional six bicycle parks.

The 2948m² lot - which the developer does not yet own - is on the outer edges of central Christchurch and close to many other popular retailers, including South City Shopping Centre on the opposite side of Bath St. There are other fast food chains nearby, including Burger King and McDonald’s about 600m away.

The site - for which Tahua Properties Ltd were prospective buyers - would be cleared of existing buildings. Earthworks would address the existing liquefaction risk.

The Popeyes brand first arrived in New Zealand in South Auckland in April last year to a queue of about 100 people. At the time of opening, the company behind the brand said it planned to open 10 stores across the country within the year. A Popeyes outlet is expected to open in Invercargill in August.

The restaurant specialised in fried chicken and was considered a competitor of the likes of KFC in the United States.

Existing buildings on the proposed Christchurch site would be demolished to make way for new restaurants, and earthwork would be done to address the liquefaction risk.

The application noted the site was previously used for activities included on the Ministry for the Environment’s Hazardous Activities and Industries List, but soil samples showed only slightly elevated metals, which did not pose a risk to people or environment. More testing would be done as work went on.

The application seeks flexibility on some rules, requesting more signs than typically allowed, and pole or pylon signs which were more than three times the maximum permitted size but more comparable to the nearby New World signs.

The developer also wants slightly less drive-through queuing space than required - 5m instead of 6m, or capacity for about 10 vehicles each - and wants three different entrances to the site instead of just the one.

Other sites in the area have also been earmarked for development.

Next door to the prospective drive-throughs on Bath St, Williams Corporation wants to build 57 apartments and townhouses. The proposed development includes a communal sauna, plunge pool and hot tub.

On Moorhouse Ave, on the other side of New World, Miles and Henri Yeoman plan to build a new retail complex and are seeking tenants.

* Correction: This story initially said the Christchurch Popeyes outlet would be the first in the South Island. In fact, an Invercargill branch is expected to be the first. (Updated May 15, 2025)