Townhouse plan for central city
A large new townhouse complex is planned for land backing onto McLean’s Mansion in central Christchurch.
Christchurch-based housing developer Growcott Freer Property has signed an agreement to buy the 8850m² site at 888 Colombo St just south of Bealey Ave.
It will be the company’s biggest development yet, on one of the central city’s largest private development sites.
Growcott Freer has also applied for resource consent from the city council to build about 70 homes on the property.
The new development would be a mix of two-storey, two-bedroom townhouses, and three-storey, three-bedroom townhouses, some with garages.
The smallest will be priced at about $650,000.
The land is mostly vacant with some existing commercial buildings which will be demolished. It was once part of the McLean estate previously subdivided off and sold.
Growcott Freer is buying the property from another housing development company, Crusaders Building Development Ltd, which did not build on the land.
Resource consent documents show the complex will be built in 12 blocks forming three separate precincts. Two significant cedar trees on the land will be kept and there will be two communal courtyards.
Growcott Freer director Isaac Freer said migration and population growth were boosting demand for housing within the four avenues. “Acquiring this site enables us to scale up our presence in central Christchurch,” he said.
The townhouses, described in marketing as offering luxury, are aimed at both homeowners and investors.
The company is also developing 25 townhouses on part of the old St Luke’s church site on Manchester St. It has about 15 other housing developments completed or underway in other parts of the city.
Tim Rookes –managing director of CBRE, which handled the land sale – said the site is one of the largest single land holdings to be sold in the central city since the earthquakes.
He said housing developers ranging from small private developers to national homebuilding groups were increasingly looking for central city land “in anticipation of higher buyer demand as interest rate pressure eases”.