Convention centre price tag $50m

The convention centre proposed for Queenstown could cost about $50 million and cater for between 750 and 1000 people.

More details about the project came to light as Queenstown Lakes District Council chief executive Adam Feeley revealed the council was commissioning an economic impact assessment on the proposed centre.

The assessment, the nature of the council's involvement, how much money it would contribute and how it could be allocated would be declared in the council's annual plan, Mr Feeley told the Otago Daily Times yesterday.

He described the consortium of centre development partners announced by the council this week as ''serious investors who have deep pockets and take a long-term view on a convention centre, architects who only design stadiums and convention centres, so you've got that design knowledge, and you've got a large-scale operator in the form of SkyCity, and you've got a local dimension there with Naylor Love, Southern Planning Group and Ngai Tahu Property.

''The observation I make to this council is if this team can't get a convention centre over the line, then no-one can.''

Asked where the money to fund construction would come from, Mr Feeley said this was still subject to negotiations. However, Ngai Tahu Property and/or Morrison and Co would be the major financial backers, if not the exclusive backers. The two parties would fund construction of the centre and own and operate it.

The convention centre would probably have a 750- to 1000-person capacity and the ability to run more than one function at a time.

''Do we want a basic, functional, relatively austere convention centre? Probably not, not on that site - not in Queenstown,'' Mr Feeley said. The Queenstown centre would be complementary to the new, larger centre in Christchurch and the even larger centre planned for Auckland, to make New Zealand a destination for the international conference and incentive market.

The 4ha of council-owned land at the top of Man St, overlooking central Queenstown and Lake Wakatipu, was the preferred site for the centre. The centre would occupy an estimated 1.4ha, leaving the council with 2.55ha.

Asked if he was confident the centre would be built and opened for business, Mr Feeley said negotiations had to begin with the consortium, the council had to be sure the figures stacked up and there had to be public consultation on the project, but feedback from the community was in favour.

''The fact is 58% of the people in this town have a job related to tourism, and a convention centre will be good for tourism, so you can say right off the bat 58% of the community will benefit from this in terms of increased economic activity.

''My view is this team presented the best possible opportunity to have a convention centre in Queenstown, and if it doesn't happen with this team, it's unlikely to happen anytime in the near future. But that's the decision facing the community.''

Skycity Entertainment Group, the preferred operator for the proposed Queenstown Convention Centre, sees the resort as an area of ''significant potential for continued tourism development''.

The company was asked what return it expected from investing in the convention centre if the venture was ''nothing to do with gaming''.

Spokeswoman Kelly Armitage, of Auckland, said yesterday SkyCity was ''very interested in the region as one of New Zealand's leading tourism operators''.

Destination Queenstown chief executive and convention centre panel member Graham Budd said the facility would open up the huge national and international conference and incentive market to the resort.