Land bought, apartment build looms
The Southern Institute of Technology (SIT) has locked in the land to build inner-city apartments in Invercargill and has enlisted Amalgamated Builders Ltd to construct them.
In July last year SIT chief executive Penny Simmonds confirmed it was looking to build apartments in an Invercargill city centre block that was to be demolished and largely rebuilt.
It had been eyeing the corner of Kelvin and Tay streets as the spot for the apartments. At the time Simmonds said Invercargill rental demand was high and she felt they needed to play a role in boosting accommodation in the city.
SIT chairman Peter Heenan confirmed at its latest governance council meeting that SIT had purchased the land and was in the process of signing off with Amalgamated Builders Ltd to carry out the build.
Ryal Bush Transport has the demolition contract.
The land was bought from HWCP Management Ltd.
Doug Riley of Southern Quantity Surveyors has been handed the task to project-manage the apartment complex build. The initial plan was for about 40 rooms, but Riley said this had since been scaled back to 28 rooms.
‘‘We’ve reduced the scope a little bit. At the moment we are looking at 28 apartments over three floors with a training kitchen, and then ground-floor retail. In the scoping we’ve had to reduce it a bit. It’s just the natural cost-control process.’’
SIT has struck a deal with the Invercargill Licensing Trust to link with the neighbouring Kelvin Hotel and develop a fully operational training hotel.
Riley did not expect construction to start until about September this year.
‘‘At the moment we are looking at 28 apartments over three floors with a training kitchen, and then ground-floor retail.’’
Riley is also project-managing another major SIT development, in the form of the Creative Industries Centre in Tay St.
SIT bought the old St John’s Anglican Church in Invercargill last year with a plan to redevelop it. The church building, hall, and grounds between Tay and Esk streets will be transformed into a creative centre, which will include co-working areas for students.
The church building itself will be strengthened and almost completely retained. However, the old brick hall beside it will be demolished and replaced by a new three-storey building that will link to the church building.
Riley said they had resource consent but were waiting to get the demolition and construction management plans signed off.
He hoped they could be under way by late next week.
Some pre-demolition work, such as the clearing out of asbestos, had been done, as had some recording of historical data given it is a category-one heritage-listed site.
Demolition is expected to take between four and six weeks and Riley hoped construction would be completed by ‘‘about the third quarter of next year’’.
The two projects will be funded from SIT’s cash reserves, which sit at close to $40 million.
Doug Riley of Southern Quantity Surveyors, who is project-managing the build for SIT