Plans afoot for Avalon TV tower
The tower once at the heart of the nation’s television broadcasting operations could soon be turned into apartments.
An application to transform Avalon Tower – part of the former Television New Zealand (TVNZ) studios in Lower Hutt – was lodged with Hutt City Council in December.
The land use consent application was filed by the Ian Cassels-directed Wellington Company and proposes 61 residential units for the 10-storey building. The proposal also includes 20 townhouses on a site adjacent to the tower.
Earl Hope-Pearson, development manager for Egmont Dixon, which is overseeing development of the site, said converting the 1970s tower into a residential building was one of a number of options being explored.
The consent was lodged ahead of the cut-off date for the council’s Development Charges and Rates
Remission Policy at the end of 2018.
Other options for the site included commercial leases.
The Wellington Company’s consent shows plans for 35 one-bedroom and 18 twobedroom apartments, eight ‘‘studio accessory units’’, and 12 three-bedroom and eight two-bedroom townhouses on the 7780-square metre site.
The tower became part of TVNZ’s Avalon precinct in 1975 and was the biggest and most technically advanced production studio in the country. TVNZ’s news service, Fair Go, What Now and the Lotto draw were all once produced at Avalon.
Hope-Pearson said any development would be positive news for the tower as it had been ‘‘largely vacant’’ for some time.
Avalon was an area that was experiencing renewed interest from home buyers and infrastructure investment from the council, Hope-Pearson said.
The tower and the land it sits on was sold to current owners Avalon Tower Ltd in 2004.