Prime site for new senior housing
Tenants living in run-down council flats are yet to be told their homes could be bulldozed.
However, they will be offered a place in the upmarket village for seniors likely to replace the 50-year-old buildings.
The Marlborough District Council’s 26 units at Andrew Place were built between 1964 and 1969. Five of the dated units are empty due to ground slumping and the council has long been searching for a cost-effective way to replace them.
Housing for Seniors committee chairwoman Cynthia Brooks said the tenants would not be briefed until they decided whether to progress the latest plan or not.
‘‘This council won’t abdicate its responsibility for seniors, as some have done,’’ Brooks said.
‘‘We’re talking about people’s homes and lives. Nobody will be asked to move. They have a lifetime tenancy with the council. We’re totally committed to the wellbeing of the existing tenants.’’
Brooks said the council had grappled with the Andrew Place seniors’ complex for some time, and needed to find a ‘‘financially self-sustaining’’ solution.
The answer could be in the value of some of the 6000 square metres of land taken up by the complex. The committee was looking at dividing the prime riverfront parcel into two, with private residences overlooking the Taylor River and an intensive senior housing development on the balance of the property.
This option could bring funds from the sale of the high value sections to help with the cost of developing new senior housing units.
About 2400sqm could be divided into eight 300sqm lots and sold for about $275,000 each. The capital value of the entire site was $1.57 million, and the land value about $1.135m.
An earlier design concept had 44 units at a cost of about $8m, partially funded by the sale of other complexes. A review suggested reducing the number of units and selling the surplus land instead.
The committee asked council staff for due diligence on all costs such as architects, infrastructure, building, fees, development contributions, and an idea of likely market returns for the sections.
The council spent about $500,000 a year on repairs and maintenance of its 179 pensioner units across the district. This would be limited to emergency repairs and maintenance at Andrew Place until the feasibility study was completed.
The committee, with Grey Power member Phil Hunnisett as advisor, would review the feasibility study and costings at its meeting in March next year.