[Davee]

Five Mile is a significant new town development located on over 60 acres of land at Frankton, Queenstown. We have master planned a development that will include a wide range of real estate including residential apartments, live work units, commercial office space, LivingSpace accommodation, numerous retail tenancies, a university campus, light industrial buildings, civic buildings and a significant amount of public open space.

Five Mile was planned by world renowned urban planners Duany Plater-Zyberk, and will set a new standard in New Zealand in all areas of development. Five Mile is the largest single project that Property Ventures is undertaking and is likely to take over 10 years to complete.

Key Statistics:

The development land covers 23.36 hectares. The master plan for Five Mile has been developed to include a wide range of real estate types whichwill make up the new town of Five Mile.

When complete Five Mile will have a resident population of over 3000 people and function as a complete community. The master plan provides for considerable open space, a town square, many civic buildings, apartments, light industrial units, Live-Work units, LivingSpace buildings, a University precinct and several large retail stores.

http://www.propertyventures.co.nz/we...ve_Mile.html#5

 

[Davee]

Another Queenstown Apartment.

Marky found this

 

[Davee]

Town Development

Another Marky find.

 

[Davee]

Hawkins wins one of NZ's biggest construction contracts

Friday, 9 March 2007

The $350 million contract for what will be one of New Zealand's largest construction projects, Kawarau Falls Station resort in Queenstown, has been awarded to Hawkins Construction Ltd.

Melview Development's managing director Nigel McKenna, who bought the former lakeside campground site 18 months ago, believes it to be the largest ever contract awarded by a private developer in New Zealand.

Hawkins, which operates nationwide, will move its 40-strong construction management team and support network of 500 construction workers straight from completing its Otago Prison project to Kawarau Falls in coming weeks, Mr McKenna says.

For Hawkins chief executive Chris Hunter, winning the contract was "like the icing on the cake" after having just celebrated the firm's 60th anniversary.

Melview's master-planned resort on 6.4 hectares of prime north-facing land on Lake Wakatipu's Frankton arm will be worth more than $1 billion at completion, scheduled for November 2010, Mr McKenna estimates.

It will comprise 13 major buildings, designed by five architectural firms, offering around 1120 units. These will include 900-950 apartment and hotel units and more than 150 residential units, ranging in size from 40 sq m to over 200 sq m.

Prices start from affordable housing for some 80 key resort workers for around $180,000. Three-bedroom penthouse waterfront apartments will cost over $1 million.

Sales have been strong, Mr McKenna says, though most owner-occupied units, accounting for about 15 per cent of the development, are being held for New Zealand buyers.

Excavation of 45,000 cubic metres of fill begins this month, for construction of the first building to start in May or June.

Both earthworks and construction will then continue on a rolling schedule with buildings reaching completion from January 2009. The first of four five-star hotels is scheduled for completion in June 2009.

Mr McKenna, sole owner of Melview Developments, said letting the contract was a considerable achievement given they had completed the master design, gained resource consent and begun site work within just 18 months.

He hopes locals will visit the resort and its facilities, which will include cafes and restaurants, indoor and outdoor heated pools, a rock climbing wall, boutique cinema, creche facilities, health spas, conference facilities and picnic and children's play areas.

Buildings will cover 41 per cent of the former Kawarau Falls Lakeside Campground, with roads a further 13 per cent, planting 25 per cent and open spaces the remaining 21 per cent. Most parking will be underground.
__________________

 

[Davee]

Night lights mulled

A widened runway and night lights could be necessary by 2012 at Queenstown Airport to cater for growing demand from trans-Tasman carriers but there had been no specific approaches from airlines as yet, corporation chairman Mark Taylor said yesterday.

The biggest constraint to accommodating after-dark flights at the airport was availability of aircraft for the airlines, Mr Taylor said.

However, he said he expected that as evening trans-Tasman flight arrivals became an option in Queenstown, and New Zealand's domestic fleet increased, airlines would request these later timeframes.

"By which time we would need those works (runway widening and lights) under way and done," Mr Taylor said.

He estimated demand for after-dark landings could be about five years away.

Queenstown would require "precision approach" to cater for night flights, which would include night lights and a widened runway.

"That is in our forward programme to do but we don't have a fixed time or commitment to do it at this stage," Mr Taylor said.

William Kernot, managing director of Australian ski wholesaler Ski Max, said an enlarged runway and night lights at Queenstown Airport would make for a "huge increase" in the number of Australians coming to Queenstown.

"If Queenstown Airport could market itself more as an international airport on a larger scale than it is now ... it would make a huge difference," Mr Kernot said.

He said this could encourage more trans-Tasman discount carriers, such as Pacific Blue and Jetstar, into Queenstown.

Mr Kernot said it was two to three times more expensive for passengers to fly into Queenstown than direct to Christchurch.

Pacific Blue public and media relations manager Amanda Bolger said yesterday the airline was always looking at "potential new opportunities, and Queenstown is one of them", although there were no immediate plans to begin flights to and from Queenstown.

 

[Davee]

Queenstown may lengthen runway

The Southland Times | Tuesday, 21 August 2007

The Queenstown Airport Corporation will apply for resource consent later this year to extend its airport runway to meet new Runway End Safety Area (RESA) standards, corporation chairman Mark Taylor said.

The corporation will be applying for resource consent to dump large loads of cleanfill out on to the Shotover River bed to extend the eastern end of the airport runway.

The new safety requirements, which must be in place by 2011, require all airports to create new "safety areas" at either end of their runways. These extensions could not be taken into account as part of the landing distance and were safety areas only.

Queenstown Airport needed to add another 90m to each end of its certified runway area. "We're looking to create another 45m of additional runway by reclaiming (land) into the Shotover River bed," Mr Taylor said.

The land necessary for the remainder of the required extensions was already in place.

If the airport was "not up to scratch" by 2011 the aircraft using its runway at present could still land and take off but not at full capacity, Mr Taylor said.

Existing aircraft using Queenstown Airport runway would have new constraints on their loadings for arrival and take-off, which could see fewer passengers on each flight.

Other issues such as how much fuel they carried, air temperatures and air pressure would also determine aircraft loadings, if the new safety extensions were not in place in time, Mr Taylor said.

 

[flyin_higher]

Yea Queenstown is a real booming place. Within the next 30 years or so it could even grow to become a small city. The buildings that are being put up certainly indicate such confidence.

 

[Davee]

OMG - MORE :dance:

 

[Davee]

$200m plan for new town unveiled

The Southland Times | Thursday, 23 August 2007

A new satellite town with 600 sections and offering cheap housing could be built near Alexandra.

Central Otago developer Shaun McLellan unveiled plans for the $200 million Wai Valley proposal yesterday, saying he wanted to address the affordable housing crisis.

"It's a means of retaining our young people. We have a sick community because young people have to leave – that's not socially healthy," he told a small group of stakeholders.
Cromwell and Alexandra were becoming increasingly expensive like Wanaka and Queenstown, with few options for young people trying to enter the market.

Mr McLellan said he could offer buyers a package of between $200,000 and $250,000.

The average price of a house in Cromwell is now $300,000.

The 120ha site is in the Waikerikeri Valley, north-east of Alexandra and just south of the proposed five-star McArthur Ridge golf course resort.

The entry-level homes would be scattered among the development, making up 15 percent of the sections.

"It's about having a modest house in the best street," Mr McLellan said.

A trust would be set up with caveats to decide who was eligible for the housing, and stopping investors trying to make a quick buck.

He said only 48ha of the development would be housing, with the remaining 72ha in roading and reserves.

Mr McLellan said the first hurdle was addressing the district plan, with either a zone change needed or a plan variation, before resource consent could be lodged. He said there was no point going ahead with the development without support from the Central Otago District Council and the community.

"There is no profit margin in it for the developer on entry-level houses ... we will back off the idea if we don't get the support. We're cutting it to the bone as it is," he said.

Mr McLellan has owned the land in the valley for the past 13 years and said the cost of setting up the entry-level housing was $19 million to $24 million on its own.

Other sections in the development would sell for about $70,000.

Central Otago Mayor Malcolm Macpherson said affordable housing had been a long-term issue across the district but the challenge was avoiding developments from becoming ghettos or enclaves.

"It's the first time someone has brought us this kind of proposal. It will provide a resource that we don't have," Mr Macpherson said.

 

[Davee]

$500m plan for Queenstown

The Press | Wednesday, 22 August 2007

BIG PLANS: This aerial shot shows part of Porter Group's Remarkables Park site at Frankton. The group wants to promote a $500 million development near Queenstown's airport.

A half-billion dollar development near Queenstown's airport will include shops, affordable homes, a retirement village and a new hospital.

Developer Porter Group has already built houses and a commercial shopping centre on its 150ha Frankton site, which attracted two million visitors in the past year.

Yesterday, the third stage of its plans were unveiled at a well-attended Queenstown press conference.

The $500 million plan on 50ha of land to be developed by the group's subsidiary Remarkables Park Ltd, was laid out in grand detail, including plans for a Pak'n Save worth more than $20m – the resort's third supermarket – an 8450 square metre Mitre 10 Mega store and much-needed employee accommodation.

The new private hospital will allow surgical procedures to be performed in Queenstown for the first time.

There is also provision for an aged-care facility, and the 152-apartment luxury retirement village will include a bowling green and swimming pool. There are also plans for a large childcare facility.

Remarkables Park Ltd director Alastair Porter said yesterday's announcement was the result of years of detailed planning by the company.

What was not acknowledged, however, in over an hour of verbal briefings or in six press releases, was that part of the land will be the subject of a change to the Queenstown Lakes District Plan, lodged by the developer. This involves a public process and may not go ahead.

Porter said he felt remiss to have left out details of the proposed change and it was not his intention to mislead.

However, Porter said a change to the activity designation on an area of land close to the southern boundary of the airport, was not critical.

It encompassed the newly announced plans for a high school and possibly a primary school, affordable housing and the large format shopping area.

The change would give Remarkables Park more flexibility for future developments.
"We have never had, at Remarkables Park, a resource consent turned down, ever ... I can't imagine why it would be turned down."

During the press conference, Porter said the airport authority – in his words, the developer's "only" neighbour – thought retail use was a better use of land than residential.

Queenstown Airport Corporation Steve Sanderson said he encouraged commercial land close to the airport.

"As for the school and the residential, we'll need to look at that closer."

Remarkables Park also announced it was turning over most of its existing shopping centre to an Auckland-based firm, Dominion Property Funds, in a deal worth about $100m.

Porter said the sale ensured the company was debt free and would not need finance to undertake further infrastructure development.

Dominion Funds Group chief executive officer Paul Duffy, also the New Zealand Property Council chairman, said it was the company's first Queenstown investment, which included a deal to build five more buildings in the existing shopping centre.

He said Dominion would later negotiate with Remarkables Park to take over the yet to be built large-format stores.

Queenstown Lakes District Council chief executive Duncan Field yesterday confirmed the body had discussed affordable housing, a golf course and the accommodation of a high school with Remarkables Park but no agreement had been reached.

"There's common agreement about the problem and the opportunities offered."

Queenstown Lakes district Mayor Clive Geddes said it was positive that Remarkables Park and its rival on the opposite side of the airport, Five Mile, were promoting worker accommodation but he looked forward to hearing further details.

Porter said 80ha of Remarkables Park's site was yet to be developed and plans over the next 10 years included high-density residential housing, resort hotels, conference facilities and a ferry service.

 

[Verdi]

I can't believe the money being spent :shocked:

 

[KingKong1]

Have you guys seen that Mainland cheese ad, with those two old timers talking, and in the background the whole valley is filled in with development - motorways, factories, etc as they speak. Well its set in this area and its a reminder of what could happen to the place, and is indeed already starting to happen, the natural beauty of the place could be ruined I hope they don't go to far because these areas are worth protecting and our clean green image depends on it

 

[TonyNZ]

This is a development for the Queenstown area....found this last year so dunno what happened with it now...

 

[Davee]

Hey buddy, can you spare $6.5m

PRIME REAL ESTATE: this home at Closeburn Station, with a multimillion-dollar price tag, is one of the priciest in the South Island.

The advertisement said it had to be experienced to be appreciated, so I thought, why not?

Plenty of people open the property pages and dream about owning a luxurious home nestled in an exclusive rural property, just like the one I spied at Closeburn Station, about 10 minutes drive north of Queenstown.

It is one thing to look at a beautiful photograph, but I wondered what it would be like to walk around a property with a multimillion-dollar price tag – more precisely one of $6.5 million.

Closeburn is a little different to your average property. As part of the sale, you become one of 27 owners of a working high-country sheep station, which is managed for you.

There is room for your horses in the paddocks, a barn where you can shoot pool with your mates and further into the station on a winding dirt road, past one of the station's three lakes, there is a small hut – Queenstown's original post office – and a fishing lodge.

As to the property itself, as well as the two-level house with a mezzanine floor, there is a self-contained cottage above the three-car garage and, across the landscaped property from the pond, a barn that has been converted into a handyman's dream.

Built over two years, the first sod was turned in 2000 by the original owners of the land, an Australian couple in the software business.

The architect, Graeme North, of Warkworth, used a combination of angles and curves to ensure you hardly need to open an internal door. It might look compact from the outside, but it is 8m to the ceiling from the main level. Beams and stone are prominent, and there is plenty of recycled timber, with rustic touches such as a wagon wheel used as a chandelier.

And the view, of course. From the mezzanine floor you can see The Remarkables, Cecil Peak and Walter Peak.

Is it opulent? No. It's luxurious, sure, but it is furnished simply. They have even resisted the urge to install a large, flat-screen TV.

The owners wanted to create something that looked like it had existed for 100 years. There are no close neighbours, and only the odd sheep or bellbird to break the silence.

The price is at the highest end of the Queenstown market.

A neighbour sold for $6.2m, but Queenstown's record is thought to be $7m – a large house on Queenstown Hill.

Real Estate Institute of New Zealand spokesman Shane O'Brien said the Queenstown property was one of the most expensive in the South Island.

Bayleys Real Estate senior agent David Rainbow said the priciest property he had heard of nationally was a $13m house at Takapuna Beach in Auckland.

 

[Guest]

Phylloxera-free Anthem in tune for go-ahead

Anthem Ventures, a company associated with southern developer Dave Henderson, has received land use consent to proceed with a wine village in Gibbston Valley near Queenstown. The property was planted in vines in 2003 and full production is expected in 2008. The go-ahead from the Environment Court (following an appeal from Transit over entranceways from the highway) allows for a boutique hotel, accommodation units, and conference facilities plus a bulk wine barrel store in a chapel cellar on the 8ha part of the land comprising the village. The consent provides for road modifications, turning bay and storm water and potable water provision. Gibbston Valley has become one of the fastest growing winery areas in recent years but a few months ago the pest phylloxera was identified in vines in the valley, which means many growers will have to replant.

However, Mr Henderson said he had taken the precaution of planting phylloxera-resistant plants. He acquired the property in 2005 from Property Ventures, another company he founded that has a wider public shareholding and which he eventually plans to privatise. One of the developments owned by Property Ventures is the Five Mile residential and commercial mini-town next to Queenstown airport, currently one of the country's largest excavated holes in the ground. But construction is now in full swing, with the casting of concrete foundations for the new town's first stage. Moving one of the largest cranes on site had its dramatic moments last week when Queenstown airport closed briefly, citing safety issues.

The 200-tonne capacity crawler crane will be used to manoeuvre almost a kilometre of concrete tilt-slab panels into place. Weighing 80 tonnes and measuring 20m long by 5m wide, the panels are also likely to be the largest ever poured in Queenstown. The foundations will form part of an extensive underground car park for the centre which will eventually house up to 10,000 people in residential and visitor accommodation, boutique and large-scale retail, education institutions, commercial quarters, and outdoor spaces.

 

[metroman]

What area does Queenstown and Lakes district cover and what is the total population of the combined area? From what I have read there sounds like there are at least $3 billion worth of projects either underway or on the drawing board. in the area.

 

[Kane007]

That's why I believe it's the fastest growing region in NZ.

Queenstown-Lakes District
Permanent population 2006 Census aprox. 17,040.
Visitors from 25,000 to 35,000

Change since 1996 census 19.3%.

Also of note is that 93.5 percent of people in Queenstown-Lakes District said they belong to the European ethnic group.

So if your a white-supremest skin head you'd feel right at home :lol: :lol: .

 

[Guest]

I can't wait to see Queenstown .... to hell with everything else - this is our next destination *hint hint Mr KF*

 

[Kane007]

You'll love Queenstown. Best to visit with snow on the mountains (skiing ) and it's so cold at night. Club crawling late at night, in the cold and getting into a nice club/bar with a raging fire - bliss! And there are SO many right next to each other.

The flight into Queestown is awesome - last couple of K's you fly level with the carpark at Cardrona - fracken cool!

But it's still excellent fun if you do it by road - make it a road trip around the South Island. Summer is probably better for this.

 

[Davee]

I can't wait to see Queenstown .... to hell with everything else - this is our next destination *hint hint Mr KF*

Go for it - you'll just LOVE it.

Kane is right - do a car trip of the South Island. You'll freak at how different it is to the North!:banana: