New office in the works
A new, larger Palmerston North Powerco office is in the final planning stages, as the utility company expands its presence in Manawatu¯.
The new office is the next stage of Rangita¯ne o Manawatu¯ Investment Trust and Wallace Development’s Fitzherbert Ave venture at the former site of the Blair Tennent hostel, between Ferguson and College streets.
The development is the first example of the trust’s increased economic heft since its $13.5 million Treaty of Waitangi settlement in 2017.
The initial stage of the site’s development is a 41-room Quest Hotel, due to be finished next month. Work on the Powerco office is due to begin by the end of the year.
Powerco spokesman Dave Circuitt said the firm had outgrown its office on Mihaere Drive after it began to hire more staff to meet growing demand for Powerco’s services in Manawatu¯. The 24 current staff would move in as soon as the new office was ready.
Wallace Development manager Mike Walker said the resource consent had been granted for the 594-square-metre office and the company was working to nail down the building consent.
Walker expected construction to take eight months, which would allow Powerco to move in during mid-2021.
Work will also resume on Rangita¯ne’s 32-section Hokowhitu housing subdivision, where earthworks had begun when the lockdown hit..