Development nears construction
A huge housing development in Porirua could begin construction early next year.
Kenepuru Landing is being built on Ngati Toa land that was previously part of Porirua Hospital. Up to 700 medium-density homes are planned, accompanied by a 300-unit Summerset retirement village on the site.
Earthworks have already begun and the first stage of 114 houses is being marketed online.
Title for the first 88 sections is expected to be issued around May next year but with council permission, building work may be able to begin beforehand, Carrus Properties managing director Scott Adams said.
Some of the houses being sold off the plans are more expensive than Adams hoped they would be a year ago, when he thought the cheapest houses would be in the mid-$500,000s.
The Government’s Welcome Home Loans in Porirua are capped at $550,000 for new properties. However, the cheapest design by one builder is a 110-square metre, two-bedroom standalone at Kenepuru Landing, priced at $598,000. All three of that design have been sold.
A 151sqm, three-bedroom, twobathroom townhouse by the same builder is being marketed for $640,000.
A different builder said none of his designs would be lower than $600,000.
Kenepuru Landing is expected to take eight years to complete.
Adams said seven different builders were involved, and their designs varied in price. He was not sure whether there had been more affordable houses that had already been sold but noted that Kenepuru Landing was a market-led development, not part of Kiwibuild or any other government project with an affordability target.
Some of those developments had made trade-offs to get their consents through faster. ‘‘We didn’t do that, and the provisions weren’t really there then to enable it.’’
Costs had also gone up since consent was first sought.
Adams welcomed the news that the Government was regenerating state houses in East Porirua and Titahi Bay, saying it was ‘‘a long time coming’’. However, he said they might well struggle with brownfield development, reconciling 40 to 50-year-old drainage, power cables, gas mains and other services. ‘‘It’s a lot harder than it looks ... I just say good luck to them.’’
Even as a new, ‘‘greenfield’’ development, Kenepuru Landing had had its challenges.
Because the housing is mediumdensity, dwellings and services had to be designed at the outset, rather than the traditional sub-division model of selling the lot and designing the house afterwards.
Kenepuru Landing is expected to take eight years to complete, including the retirement village.
However, with many projects simultaneously on the go, including a recreation park, Transmission Gully and an upgrade of the retail centre, Adams felt Porirua was a good bet.
‘‘Wellington is challenged topographically, the only way it can develop is north ... Porirua is extremely convenient to the city anyway but with that Transmission Gully link it will be extremely efficient.’’
Carrus Corporation has been involved in Porirua for more than two decades, having already built the Silverwood and Aotea subdivisions.