A cluster of investment is to be unleashed on a dilapidated part of Dunedin's Princes St, and could see the city's oldest pub reopened.
O'Neill Devereux yesterday confirmed it had bought the former Lone Star restaurant building at 417 Princes St and planned to redevelop it into modern office space.
The news came just a day after another building owner, Bill Brown, confirmed plans to spend up to $250,000 refurbishing a nearby building at 471 Princes St.
The two initiatives were among a larger cluster of projects planned in the area, including talks that could lead to the reopening of the Empire Hotel, Dunedin City Council staff confirmed yesterday.
O'Neill Devereux practice manager Dave Fleming said the redevelopment of the former Lone Star building would begin as soon as possible.
The firm's 19 staff were expected to relocate from their High St base by June, once the refurbishment was complete, he said.
It would include removing much of the former restaurant's distinctive exterior, although the ''unique'' upper windows would be preserved, he said.
The building had been bought for a ''six-figure'' sum, but the cost of the redevelopment was not yet known, he said.
Moving to a larger space would allow the company to grow, and recruiting for extra staff had already begun, Mr Fleming said.
That would bring more workers into a dilapidated part of Princes St each day, but that could be just the start, council acting urban design team leader Dr Glen Hazelton said yesterday.
A cluster of other projects confirmed for nearby buildings included the refurbishment of one building, the development of new loft-style apartments in another, and a new retail tenant for a third, he said.
Potential buyers were also talking to council staff with the aim of reopening the Empire Hotel, he said.
The category 1-listed historic hotel - once home to the ''Dunedin Sound'' and bands like the Chills, the Clean and the Verlaines - remained on the market.
Dr Hazelton confirmed six potential buyers had progressed detailed plans to reopen the venue last year.
Two more parties had contacted the council last week to discuss similar plans, and it appeared reopening the old venues was ''only a matter of time'', he said.
''Mostly they seem to want to keep it pretty similar to what it was when it was last open: a bar and music venue.
''I think it sounds like there's a bit of a gap in the market for that kind of thing.
''I'm optimistic that something positive will happen with that one.''
In the meantime, the owners of 377 Princes St - the former home of Hayward's Auction House - planned to restore and strengthen the building's facade, including the eagle statue on top, he said.
''It's one of the nicest buildings in that block, but it's a bit run down,'' he said.
The owners of 110 Bond St, near the former Lone Star building, had sold it to Christchurch-based heritage building owners, he said.
The group planned to redevelop and earthquake-strengthen its Dunedin building and develop three new loft-style apartments.
A new retail tenant had also been confirmed for Stafford House, better known as Barton's Building, and other projects were in the pipeline but yet to be confirmed, he said.
That include ongoing council efforts to ''facilitate'' a redevelopment of the former bookstore and apartment building at 389 Princes St, which was damaged by fire in 2011, he said.
Christchurch-based developer Luke Dirkzwager also had consent to demolish buildings at 372-392 Princes St and 11 Stafford St, while retaining three facades, for a retail and apartment development.
No timeline has yet been announced for the project, but the consent gives Mr Dirkzwager until 2021 to advance the project.
Further north, the city's warehouse precinct continued to reinvent itself and new life has been breathed into the former chief post office, which is now home to Silver Fern Farms.
Dr Hazelton said it was ''really exciting'' to see new investment in Princes St, after years of inactivity. It was already having a ''snowball effect'' by encouraging others to invest as well.
''That's a positive thing - to get people to look at the area in a different way and see it as an opportunity, not just as a derelict part of town.
''We've seen the snowball effect happen in the opposite way in some other parts of the city, where there's that cycle of disinvestment.
