More new apartments, shops for east frame
Apartments, townhouses, penthouses, and shops – the next block in central Christchurch’s east frame will be the tallest yet, and the first on Manchester St.
Fletcher Living has started groundworks for the block, which is the next stage of the Crown-led east frame housing project forming part of the city’s earthquake rebuild.
The latest stage includes seven buildings up to five storeys high, on a site bordered by Cashel, Manchester and Hereford streets and Huanui Ln.
There will be 63 homes plus a row of small shops at street level.
Fletcher has lodged its resource consent application for the block with the city council, and the cleared land has been fenced off.
The plan is for 26 apartments including penthouses, and 37 townhouses with between one and three bedrooms each. The development would have parking for 44 cars and 50 bicycles.
The retail spaces, for shops or hospitality outlets, would cover a total of 216 square metres facing Manchester St.
The east frame would eventually have more than 900 homes on both sides of Huanui Ln and Rauora Park.
Fletcher said it was building the homes to meet sales demand, and was buying the land from the Crown lot by lot as required.
Already completed were 172 homes, all in blocks facing Madras St or Latimer Square, where the first residents began shifting in two years ago.
Furthest south of the completed homes were the Bedford Apartments on Madras St overlooking the new stadium site, and the Bedford Terraces next to them, facing Rauora Park.
In the next block north between Cashel and Hereford streets were the Liverpool Terraces, with the Latimer Terraces the next block over, facing Latimer Square.
After a slow start, sales in the east frame had gathered pace, and all the completed homes were now sold at prices between about $399,000 and $1.5 million, with most in the $550,000 to $800,000 bracket.
Another 68 homes were under construction in the block bordered by Gloucester and Worcester streets, Huanui Ln and Latimer Square.
Many of those had been pre-sold, after Fletcher made them the first in the east frame offered for sale off the plans.
The east frame project aims to boost the central city population after it fell significantly following the earthquakes.
The Christchurch City Council has a target of 20,000 residents in the central city by 2028.
An estimated 7000 to 8000 people live in the area now.