Key Halswell project signed
Supermarket owner Woolworths NZ has signed a deal with a land developer to create a subdivision and shopping centre in Halswell.
The company, the owner of Countdown supermarkets, owns 21 hectares of land on Halswell Rd opposite Aidanfield.
It has resource consent to create more than 250 sections for about 270 houses and apartments, plus shops, a Countdown supermarket, and amenities including a medical centre, gym and indoor pool, childcare centre, cafe, tavern, and cinema.
Woolworths has been looking for a developer to buy and develop the land in line with its masterplan and would lease back the completed supermarket.
The chosen land developer, who has not been identified, has the land under contract in a purchasing deal not yet been concluded.
Matt Grainger, Countdown’s director of property, said it wanted a developer with expertise in housing because of the number of homes in the project, and had received strong interest. He said Woolworths would not comment further until the sale was concluded.
Woolworths NZ bought the site for $27 million in 2017, and has estimated the project would be worth $250m to $300m once built. The Environment Court approved resource consent for the development last year.
Woolworths had asked the court to consider its case after opposition arose during the 2018-19 resource consent process with the Christchurch City Council.
One objector was Spreydon Lodge Ltd, a land developer that owns the land to the north of Woolworths’ site and has resource consent to build its own commercial complex with shops and food and drink outlets.
Conditions of the Woolworths NZ approval include minimum density requirements for some housing lots, and a minimum height of two storeys for apartment buildings and terraced homes.
Woolworths must also build a controlled intersection before subdividing its land, where its new roading intersects with Halswell Rd and Aidanfield Drive.
Further resource consents will be needed to subdivide the individual housing lots.
The site is now mostly used as farmland.