Queenstown lakeside section for sale
THE mysterious development company behind a huge Wanaka subdivision is selling a prime piece of Queenstown waterfront land.
The 3800 square metre section on the shores of Lake Wakatipu is part of a larger block in the Kawarau Village, adjoining the Hilton hotel.
It was bought out of receivership last year by Queenstown couple Michaela and Chris Ward Meehan and has previously been granted resource consent for a five-level hotel complex.
The Meehans, who run Sydneybased finance company Winton Partners, are developing the rest of the block into an exclusive 50-section subdivision called Lake’s Edge.
They are also developing the huge Northlake subdivision at Wanaka, which caused a stir with locals concerned about a lack of information about the project.
Northlake, which has just been approved by Environment Court, will create 1600 lots, expanding the number of homes in Wanaka by a third.
Back in Queenstown, the Kawarau Village site is being jointly marketed by Greg Ross of Bayleys and Cam Reed of Ray White.
Ross said the owners put it up for sale after a nearby site of similar size sold for $6.2 million, to a developer who is understood to be planning a number of homes.
The location of the section and its numerous development opportunities made it an attractive opportunity to investors, Ross said.
‘‘The north-facing, freehold site is ideally positioned within a highly sought-after growth area, and boasts panoramic views over Lake Wakatipu. Development opportunities include varied residential, commercial and tourist ventures,’’ he said.
Preliminary architectural plans had recently been prepared for two separate schemes, a 179-room hotel complex and a 76-unit apartment development. Ross said the Queenstown area was poised for further growth. Statistics from Queenstown Airport show annual passenger numbers have more than doubled since 2005, making it the fastest growing airport in the country, up 10 per cent from the previous year to 1.37 million.
Queenstown Airport conservatively forecasts this growth to hit 1.61 million passengers in 2018 and 2.3 million by 2037.
This year the region was named the number one destination in New Zealand and the South Pacific in TripAdvisor’s 2015 Travellers’ Choice Awards.
It is the third consecutive year Queenstown has won New Zealand’s top destination and the first time it has taken out the title of best South Pacific region.