High St hotel happening soon

Ignore the rumours. Work is ‘‘definitely’’ about to begin on a $12 million four-star hotel in Lower Hutt.

That is the word from Mayor Ray Wallace, who is aware of rumours about the High St project. ’’It is definitely still going head despite comments I see on social media that it is not happening.’’

Wallace is in regular contact with developer Raman Sarin and he remains committed to the project.

‘‘April is when he plans to begin, although May is probably a better timeframe … hopefully you will see the turning of the sod soon.’’

The hotel is part of the council’s plan to rejuvenate the struggling retail sector south of the Queensgate shopping centre. Sarin recently announced plans to build a Hilton Hotel in Wellington.

Wallace said that led to speculation that Sarin was no longer interested in Lower Hutt.

In January, it was reported that work was about to begin after building equipment appeared on the vacant Lower Hutt site.

City development manager Gary Craig said that Sarin subsequently made some design changes, which caused a delay.

The council purchased the land for $3.5 million to encourage a hotel developer to build on the site. Sarin, will also run the council’s nearby $23m events centre, which is under construction.

Craig said a suggestion that the delay was due to a shortage of skilled labour was not correct. With the amount of building in the region post the November earthquake, construction firms are busy but that has not contributed to the delay. He is confident that once the design changes are finalised, work would begin almost immediately.