Lakes site a rare opportunity
Site to become residential and recreational destination. By Geoff Lewis.
Perry Group’s Te Awa Lakes project is the single largest project ahead for the Hamilton-based company and a cornerstone in an integrated vision that reaches from Turangawaewae to the Avantidrome.
The company approached Hamilton City Council earlier this year with an application for a zoning change to allow the area to progress as a mixed-use development.
The council considered the 1500-page document in September and public submissions are expected to open at the end of October.
Perry Group chief executive Richard Coventry said that since the company had gone public with its vision, the $1 billion-plus development had attracted significant commercial interest.
Te Awa Lakes is situated in Te Rapa on an area that had been the site of one of Perry’s sand mining operations since the early 1990s. This finished about 18 months ago and a new purpose for the site, capitalising on its unique location, needed to be found, he said.
‘‘We’d been thinking about it for a decade. Initially we thought it would make a great site for a residential wetland development but zoning limitations made that difficult.’’
It is currently zoned industrial, commercial and deferred industrial.
‘‘We went back to the drawing board and took a helicopter view of the emerging residential, commercial and tourism drivers for the region,’’ he said.
‘‘It had frontage on Waikato River and direct access from the new Waikato Expressway so we thought about creating a new northern gateway for Hamilton.’’
The goal is an integrated residential and recreational destination for the region, incorporating commercial and business uses within the mixeduse vision.
The development complements Perry’s support for active communities and his desire to enhance the use of the Waikato River.
Through the Brian Perry Charitable Trust, the company is involved in the development of the Te Awa river cycleway and the establishment of the Podium Sports Lodge, a new accommodation village primarily for athletes and their families adjacent to the Avantidrome near Cambridge.
The Te Awa Lakes area is divided in two by the expressway. About 62 hectares in Hamilton City is planned to include more than 1000 houses in a variety of styles.
The proposed master residential plan has essential services in place and would help the city meet its housing supply targets agreed to in a Housing Accord with the Government in 2016.
A further 13ha in Waikato District to the north is to be developed as an integrated residential, retirement living and neighbourhood centre.
Development director Lale Ieremia said Te Awa Lakes provided a rare opportunity for the region and could be compared to current large-scale development, mixed-use and master-planned concepts like Hobsonville Point in Auckland.
‘‘There are not many opportunities to build a com- munity from scratch,’’ he said. ‘‘This is largely a brownfield site that with its natural features, existing residential and industrial neighbours, offers a controlled urbanisation.’’
A feature will be the opportunity to break down a large development into ‘‘projects within projects’’, which will give local businesses, iwi and educational institutions the chance to be involved during construction and in operation.
The first phase is proposed to be built adjacent to the Te Rapa BP Service Centre on the corner of the site. Another 12ha will be developed on the south side of Hutchinson Rd.
‘‘We want to bring different accommodation options down to the river,’’ Ieremia said. ‘‘It could be an area for hotels and we are working on locations for jetties for a future river boat service.’’
The former quarry with existing ‘‘lakes’’ fed by a natural spring might look daunting at the moment from a geotechnical perspective, but the the experience gained in Christchurch’s rebuild will be invaluable.
Overall, Coventry and Ieremia see Te Awa Lakes as both a means of achieving business objectives and a way of giving meaning to the philosophy of founder Brian Perry, and now through his children Simon and Tiffiney and their families, that the company and its activities should also bring benefit to the region and community.
Meanwhile, the project rests on the outcome of public consultation over the proposed zone change application, expected to be finalised early next year.