Work to start on non-profit New Brighton homes

Friday, 24 November 2023

A computerised image of homes in the upcoming Te Pākau Maru housing development in New Brighton.

Groundworks will start within weeks as a non-profit development of 63 terraced homes gets under way in New Brighton.

The development, known as Te Pākau Maru, is being carried out by housing charity Kāinga Maha on three car parks it bought from the Christchurch City Council on Beresford St.

The council has now issued building consent for all six stages of homes, expected to cost just over $15 million to build.

The Pākau Maru housing development plan for New Brighton.

Kāinga Mahu general manager Annie Wilson said site preparations would start in January.

“We are now in the process of securing everything we need, such as finalising our funding and the construction contract.

“It’s a huge milestone for us as an organisation to be at this stage, after a lot of work to get our consents in place. It’s going to be very exciting to get on site.”

The three blocks of housing are being developed by housing charity Kāinga Maha. (Computerised image)

Wilson said they expected the first stage would take 12 months to build, and they had not decided whether to start further stages while the first was under way or wait until completion.

The townhouses, with between one and four bedrooms, are intended to be a mix of owner-occupied and rental homes. They have been offered for pre-sale since April.

Wilson declined to say how sales are progressing.

Stage one, which has 25 homes priced from $580,000 to $830,000, will be built on the block between Union and Mafeking streets.

They will be mostly two-storey, with some occupying three storeys. Some will have off-street car parks.

The homes will have between one and four bedrooms.(Computerised image)

Construction will be by Christchurch-based Home Development Group.

Wilson said the project will be funded with a loan from a private lender.

All stages of the development now have building consent. (Computerised image)

Kāinga Maha is also waiting to hear the outcome of an application to the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development for funding available to non-profit groups that build affordable rental housing, she said.

The charity was chosen as the developer for the site in 2021 by the council’s economic development agency ChristchurchNZ, which sought housing proposals before making a deal with Kāinga Maha.

Kāinga Maha paid the city $3.14m for the land.

The organisation has already completed an 84-home development on former Riccarton Racecourse land in Christchurch.