Mortgagee sale casts doubt on hotel plans
PLANS for a new $350 millionplus Radisson hotel and apartments at the Remarkables Park in the Queenstown area are in doubt after a mortgagee sale via international tender was called on the land.
The 1ha greenfields site at 6771 Red Oaks Dr is being advertised by Colliers International, which says the Remarkables Park Town Centre is Queenstown’s most established openair retail centre.
Consent has been granted for a 426room hotel and 180 apartments, advertising said. Those plans are for two hotels of four and fivestar quality, as well as separate apartments, but all joined together.
Tony Tosswill’s NZ Horizon Hospitality Group said he planned a scheme which when finished would have been worth about $350 million.
‘‘I brought a new operator to this country,’’ he said of the Radisson hotel planned for the site.
He bought the land about three years ago and borrowed the money from Pearlfisher.
‘‘I still control the land. It’s a dispute with the lender. I can’t talk to you about it until after February 5. I still control the land until that date,’’ Mr Tosswill said.
‘‘People talk about tourism, employment and construction but when you ask them to put up something, there’s nothing. I find it very sad when you’re trying to help this country.’’
NZ Horizon shows plans for the scheme on its website, on the land next to Queenstown Airport. Mr Tosswill, based in Tekapo, is an active developer in the Dunedin, Queenstown and Tekapo areas.
The scheme was for a new sevenstorey apartment looking towards the Remarkables as well as the two hotels.
‘‘Shopping is a breeze with the nearby Frankton shopping complex, New World supermarket. Future developments have been tabled for the construction of a new Queenstown convention centre and a Remarkables gondola to the skifield, all of which would be just down the road,’’ the business said.
It called the apartment component Horizons.
‘‘Horizons is part of a greater threetower development which includes a 257room 4star hotel and 152room 5star hotel. The Horizons apartments include 149 apartment units: 66 onebedroom apartments, 69 twobedroom units, six threebedroom units, eight three plus study/fourth bedroom units and approximately 151 car parks,’’ the business said.
Colliers said the surrounding Remarkables Park area provided one of the largest mixeduse development programmes in the region. It also cited five new hotel and apartment developments either completed or under construction.
About 275 apartments and 250 hotel rooms had been completed in the past three years near the site, Colliers said.
The site near the Kawarau River is 10,909sq m, in three titles. Colliers will accept tender offers for all three or any one of the titles, agents said.
Alastair Porter, of
Remarkables Park, said yesterday he was sorry to hear of the mortgagee sale but he had no doubt a large project would rise there still.
‘‘I sympathise with them. Obviously, they’re a casualty of Covid and borders being closed to tourism, which makes it very hard. There’s still talk of the bubble with Australia after
March and Australian tourism alone would keep Queenstown going.’’