Stalled CBD rebuild reaches court

The multimillion-dollar city block development planned for Invercargill’s CBD will be put under the spotlight today at a High Court hearing in Christchurch.

Nelson-based Gaire Thompson, who owns various commercial properties in Invercargill, filed an interim injunction at the High Court in Invercargill just before Christmas.

His concerns will be presented at the Christchurch court hearing, which is scheduled to start at 9.45am.

Thompson will be represented by lawyers Fran McDonald and Sally Jepp, while HWCP Management

Ltd director Scott O’Donnell said HWCP – the company behind the CBD development – will be represented by Jared Ormsby and Tyler Brown.

Thompson’s main concern was that the Invercargill City Council had not notified the public of an application by HWCP Ltd to vary the conditions of resource consents for the demolition, alteration and development of a block.

The council has also agreed to invest up to $30 million into stages one, two and three of the development.

Another initial investor, Geoff Thomson, pulled out of the development in November, leaving a gap of $21m in the overall $165m budget to complete stages one, two and three.

‘‘We want to make sure people are aware of the state of the finances. I’m not sure what result we will get out of this [hearing] – we’ll just have to wait and see, I guess,’’ Thompson said.

‘‘We want [ratepayers] to be fully aware of what is going on, how things will be financed, and if they are going to be required to front up with more money.’’

O’Donnell previously told The Southland Times that there was contingency within the

budget and suggested savings could be made following Thomson’s withdrawal.

They would also continue to work with other potential investors, he said.

Thompson owns the Dee St building in Invercargill that is currently leased by department store Farmers. The retailer has been announced as the city block development’s anchor tenant.

Since news broke of Thompson’s interim injunction, the feedback had been mixed, he said.

‘‘I’ve had some positive feedback from some, and some negative feedback on Facebook from others. I’ve just had to keep out of it as much as possible.’’

Demolition to make way for construction of the city block development was scheduled to start on January 6, but the interim injunction had put a hold on it.

Christchurch-based company Ceres NZ has been awarded the demolition contract and had workers in Invercargill preparing for a January 6 start date.

However, O’Donnell said those workers had now returned to Christchurch and were ‘‘waiting for a phone call’’ regarding a potential start date.

‘‘We want to make sure people are aware of the state of the finances.’’ Gaire Thompson

Invercargill property owner