The owner of the last lakefront commercial development site available in Ardmore St is Ardmore Holdings (Wanaka) Ltd, a company directed by Ashburton accountant Ross Gibson.
The 1131sq m property has a rateable value of $4.22 million and is the former home of the late Gra and Olive West.
The Wanaka tourism identities built the concrete block home in the late 1950s.
Mr West died in 1995 and Mrs West died last year.
Some people had hoped the house would be bought by the community and retained or developed into a park but the Queenstown Lakes District Council decided it had higher spending priorities.
Wanaka's urban design panel has called for a sensitive design for the site to complement the neighbouring Bullock Creek reserve as well as the existing built environment.
The new Wanaka Town Centre Character Guidelines will govern the site's development and were received by the Wanaka Community Board earlier this month.
They will be advertised for public feedback by May.
Mr Gibson, a partner of Ashburton accounting firm Gabites Ltd, said yesterday it was too early to say when resource consent would be applied for or what the building would look like.
The shareholder of Ardmore Holdings (Wanaka) Ltd is Whitestone Nominees Ltd.
Mr Gibson said the company was a client of his accounting firm and declined to comment further about the owner, who he said sought minimal publicity.
"There is no point making statements when it really is at the very early stages," Mr Gibson said.
He declined to reveal the purchase price, as it was confidential.
Colliers agent Mary-Jo Hudson, of Queenstown, has been appointed to gauge the market for potential commercial tenants.
A billboard in front of the house calls for registrations of interest from the food and beverage, entertainment, retail, service and tourism sectors.
The Colliers' website says areas are available from 80sq m to 300sq m, within a proposed multi-level commercial development.
The proposed completion date is 2012.
Lakes Environmental's Wanaka duty planner Ian Greaves yesterday confirmed no resource consent application to develop the site had been received.
In the meantime, the Snow Park has secured a short-term tenancy to occupy the house as its town office.
