Six-storey apartments headed for bay

Resource consent has been granted for a six storey, 64-unit apartment block in Browns Bay.

Developer Victor Jia says, while the community hasn’t been directly consulted in plans for The Victor, they have been considered and the building has been designed to minimise its impact.

He hopes the building will become a part of the Browns Bay community and says in the future more and more people will be living in apartments.

Jia says the community welcomes the development and there have been no complaints.

He says bringing apartments to the area will help promote local businesses and utilise the land efficiently and carparking won’t be an issue.

In September 2015, the Hibiscus and Bays Local Board expressed concerns at the effect a multi-storey apartment block would have on shading, traffic generation and parking.

An urban design report done by Clinton Bird Urban Design in February this year, says the building has been the focus of meetings with Auckland Council’s Housing Project Office and the local board.

‘‘There will be some people who think of Browns Bay as a ‘village’ … while this may be a valid architectural characterisation and expectation in suburban residential areas of Browns Bay, it is not considered appropriate to the developing urban character of the town centre,’’ the report says.

It says, to mitigate the size of the building, the top floor is setback and it is designed as two buildings joined by an atrium.

‘‘The upper level setback technique is ... very successful in reducing the perceived height of buildings.’’

The report says any shadows cast by the building will be less than minor and the proposed development is a ‘‘benchmark for residential intensification in Auckland Town Centres’’.

Local board chairwoman from 2013, Julia Parfitt says the design has come some way in addressing the board’s concerns but it is still too big and she hopes it doesn’t set a height precedent.

She says the board was consulted because it owns the neighbouring village green, library and laneway.

Jia says the apartment block is two to three years from completion and about a third of the apartments are already sold.

The Bute Rd site is a Special Housing Area so seven of the apartments will be affordable.

PHOTO: ONE TO ONE HUNDRED Community feedback influenced the design of The Victor, Browns Bay, an artist’s impression shows.