Public get say on CBD mall
Members of the public can now lodge submissions outlining their thoughts on a $200 million proposal to demolish 30 buildings in the Invercargill CBD and build a massive mall on the site.
HWCP Management’s Ltd’s resource consent application to Invercargill City Council has been put up on the council website.
The redevelopment will include a range of food and dining outlets and outdoor dining spaces, a variety of retail outlets, boutique shops, a large anchor retailer, office space, apartments, a medical centre, civic facilities and a multi-level car park.
The first stage of the application is to demolish the 30 buildings, including two Category 2 heritage buildings at 33 Dee St and 29 Esk St.
The demolition of the entire block is expected to take up to two years.
Only three buildings will be retained: the Reading Cinemas building on Dee St, the former Bank of New South Wales building on the corner of Tay and Dee streets and the Kelvin Hotel on the corner of Esk and Kelvin streets.
The facade of the category 2 heritage-listed former Southland Times building would be altered.
The public has until November 16 to lodge submissions to the council on the application.
HWCP director Scott O’Donnell said the new target start date for demolition is March 2019, after the public submission hearings which he understands will be in February.
He wants the first tenants to be open for business in three years’ time, by Christmas 2021, and the entire project completed in 2023.
‘‘In three to five years’ time, this town’s going to be so materially different. It will be absolutely wonderful.’’
Businesses on the north side of Esk St, which are not part of the redevelopment, would be affected during the demolition of buildings on the south side of the street.
The street would be closed for periods of time to all traffic, goods deliveries would be restricted and pedestrians would be moved to the north side of Esk St for most of the works.
However, only the demolition of the rundown Government Life building, on the corner of Esk and Dee streets, was expected to cause the total closure of Esk St.
An asbestos survey would be completed on all the buildings, and any asbestos would be removed before the demolition began.
The resource consent application says 90 per cent of the building stock in the block is between 10 and 25 per cent of national building standards.
Existing tenants could not stay as the buildings were at the end of their economic life, says a report by Trevor Thayer, of Professionals Real Estate, and HWCP director Geoff Thomson.