Swings and roundabouts for investors
Plans for the building and sale of a Waikato preschool childcare facility – disrupted because of Covid-19’s impact on the construction sector and wider community – have been resurrected.
The state-of-the-art educational amenity is located in Lockerbie Estate, a residential enclave on Morrinsville’s current urban boundary. The emerging suburb is one of the region’s largest urban developments.
The master-planned community will see the construction of some 800 new homes accommodating more than 2500 residents on 79ha of former farmland.
Located 30km east of Hamilton on SH26, Morrinsville has a population of approximately 7000 residents.
Lockerbie Estate will also include a retirement village, caf and retail hub.
Its residential development has been planned for gradual evolution over eight stages. The first began last year, with the final phase scheduled for completion by 2030.
The freehold land and daycare facility premises which will accommodate the Morrinsville Early Learning Village, being built on the Lockerbie StFairway Drive corner, were first placed on the market last September.
Covid-19 disrupted the construction timetable and its owner/developer’s business operations so the project was withdrawn from the market.
The property is now being marketed for sale by deadline private treaty through Bayleys Hamilton, with offers closing on June 23.
Salesperson Josh Smith said the 504sq m building had been designed to radiate from the centre outwards, with the infants’ area safely encircled by the ‘big kids’ zone’ and access to shade-covered outdoor play areas.
The single-storey interior will also feature administrative office space, a kitchen, laundry, and separate staff and patron bathrooms.
On 2492sq m of freehold land, the centre will be licensed for up to 85 children with carparking for staff and clients and a substantial on-site pick-up and drop-off zone.
The facility is due to open in the middle of next year and will be operated by Waikato-based childcare services provider Grow ECE Ltd which already runs several other locations in the region.
Over the past nine months, Grow ECE has been focussing on maintaining the continuity of existing sites while staff, attendees and their families have been affected by the virus.
Grow ECE’s approach to running daycare amenities is through creating a ‘village’ atmosphere where caring, growing and celebrating the extraordinary is an everyday experience.
Smith said the growing demand for early childhood education and care was being driven through changes in demographics, population and changes in the way families lived and worked.
“For families with two working parents, along with many solo parent households, outsourced childcare is an integral and now widely accepted part of modern family life,” Smith said.
“Public funding for the sector is reliable and secure. The 2020 Government budget for example committed an additional $278 million over the ensuing four years to fund ECE services employing fully-qualified staff.”