$40m housing development to get under way at old school site

Tuesday, 20 May 2025

The Modus Group development, Seaview Villas, will see 86 homes built at the former Central New Brighton School site between Hawke St and Seaview Rd.

Work is about to begin on a $40 million housing development in New Brighton following years of delays and a change of ownership.

Plans were first announced in 2021 to build 76 homes at the former Central New Brighton School site, but the development stalled after just 14 units were built.

Developer Modus Group bought the undeveloped portion of the property late last year, and will build 86, mostly two and three-bedroom units on it.

David Nixon of Modus Group has been granted resource consent to build 86 units on land once occupied by Central New Brighton School.

Managing director David Nixon said he was approached by financiers working with the original developer and asked if they would be interested in salvaging the project.

“We could see an opportunity here to do something that is going to have the potential to have a really good impact on the New Brighton area.”

Nixon said the previous development, which included a recreational reserve in the middle of it, was not viable.

The entire site will end up with 100 homes, including 86 in the new development and 14 existing units built by a previous developer.

Modus did away with the reserve and increased the number of homes.

The entire site will end up with 100 homes, comprising the 86 new units and 14 existing ones — up from 76 under the original plan.

Since the development was so different to the original consent, Nixon needed to submit a new resource consent application.

He also had to obtain approval from Christchurch City Council-owned economic development agency ChristchurchNZ, which signed the original deal with developer Grant MacKinnon.

ChristchurchNZ urban development general manager Cath Carter said the new plan achieved one of the main objectives of the New Brighton Regeneration Project, which was to increase the number of people living within walking distance of the commercial centre.

Carter said the homes would contribute to the growing momentum in New Brighton.

Modus Group managing director David Nixon hopes to start earthworks in July or August.

When asked if ChristchurchNZ was concerned about the loss of the central reserve, Carter said there was still a reserve at one end, which provided a public walkway.

Nixon said Modus worked with the council to increase the density by the minimum amount needed to make it viable.

Most of the existing residents did not see a great deal of value in a piece of grass that needed to be maintained, Nixon said, referring to the inner reserve that no longer exists under the new plan.

About four established trees were also set to remain in the original plan, but were felled by Modus earlier this year. Modus gave the wood away to the community.

David Nixon hopes to retain part of the old school gate.

The area already had a high level of amenity, Nixon said, being close to the beach, the hot pools, New Brighton Pier, the library and Rāwhiti Domain.

The resource consent decision said at least one owner of the existing units considered themselves to be adversely affected by the removal of the reserve.

In her resource consent decision, commissioner Janice Carter concluded there was still sufficient space for all the owners and occupiers of the units that would be built.

“Overall, I conclude that the adverse effects on people and the environment from the reduced areas of outdoor living space are less than minor.”

Nixon said Modus would donate about $50,000 to spruce up the existing pathway and reserve with a playground and some landscaping.

The project, Seaview Villas, will be built in two stages, with 55 homes in the first stage and 31 in the second.

Nixon expected to start the ground works in July or August and hoped to have the first stage completed by the middle of next year. Work on the second stage would start around then.

Most of the homes are two-storey villas, and the development will include three one-bedroom units, 61 two-bedroom units, and 22 three-bedroom units.

The 65m² one-bedroom units will be sold for $450,000, the 81m² two-bedroom units will cost $600,000, and the 105m² three-bedroom units will sell for $700,000.

Each unit will have a parking space, but no garage.

Nixon said a lot of people were hanging in there hoping that New Brighton would get some momentum, and increasing the housing supply in the area had to be a good thing.

A council-owned company bought the former Central New Brighton School site from the Ministry of Education for $1.2 million in 2019.

Four years earlier, the school was merged with North New Brighton and Freeville schools to form Rāwhiti School in another location as part of a city-wide post-earthquake review of schools.