Thousand homes in two developments
More than 1000 new homes, three hotels and extensive commercial developments are being planned in central Queenstown across two large new subdivisions.
An application to fast-track resource consent for the billiondollar Lakeview/Taumata development on the former Queenstown camping ground site has been lodged with the Environmental Protection Authority.
Council documents show the spending within the development is expected to generate $100 million a year for the local economy, employment for 1800 people and household incomes of $52m.
At the same time, the first sections in a new 600- to 700-lot subdivision known as Silver Creek, on Queenstown Hill, are for sale.
The Silver Creek subdivision covers 34 hectares of former farm land above Frankton Rd. Sites have views across Lake Wakatipu and towards The Remarkables.
The first sections to be marketed are within an exclusive gated community known as The Summit, which will eventually consist of 46 sites, a lodge and a helicopter pad.
The remainder of the development will include townhouses, apartments and home and land packages. The Lakeview/Taumata development is still to gain resource consent but Paul Burnaby, the New Zealand general manager of Australia-based developer Ninety Four Feet, said it was hoped that construction of Lakeview/Taumata would start next year, once underground infrastructure works were complete. It could take 15 years to finish.
It is a residential, hospitality and retail precinct to be built over a 10ha former campground site.
Once completed, the development, which sits near the shore of Lake Wakatipu, will accommodate up to 1500 people, with more than 500 apartments, affordable coliving units, three hotels, public reserves and a new plaza.
Queenstown Chamber of Commerce chief executive Ruth Stokes said the project represented a coming of age. ‘‘It takes Queenstown out from being a small town to being a real global player.’’
The site is owned by the Queenstown Lakes District Council and is being developed by a consortium including Ninety Four Feet, Centuria Capital (formerly Augusta Capital), and Britomart Hospitality Group.