The first stage of the multimillion-dollar Gibbston Valley Station (GVS) resort will be tied in with upgrades of Gibbston Valley Winery and the development of 16 winery cottages next door to the winery.
It will involve an underpass beneath the Gibbston Highway linking the winery to the first nine holes of the planned 18-hole golf course.
The underpass would tie in with the 8.5km Gibbston River Trail being developed by the Gibbston Community Association and supported by the Wakatipu Trails Trust.
Greg Hunt, of Wanaka, the chief executive of both GVS Ltd and Gibbston Valley Winery, told the Otago Daily Times yesterday the upgrades and the underpass were planned for the summer of 2011 and 2012.
GVS has drawn up concept plans for 16 winery cottages, to be built where a lodge was considered, on the eastern side of the winery.
The 11 single-storey and five two-storey cottages would be in "Central Otago style" and made of materials including schist rock and plaster.
The cottages would require a separate resource consent and an application would probably be filed in the second half of this year, Mr Hunt said.
Subject to the consent, construction of the visitor accommodation could start in the second half of 2011 and receive the first guests a year later.
Mr Hunt reiterated the resort development was privately funded and did not have bank debt.
American investor and New Zealand resident Phil Griffith, majority owner of both GVS Ltd and the winery, said the economic downturn was finished: "There's all kinds of signs internationally and in New Zealand."
Golf course designer Greg Turner, of Queenstown, said the course he planned for GVS would complement courses at The Hills, Jacks Point and Millbrook.
The GVS course would be created on the terrace between State Highway 6 and the Kawarau River.
"It's not supposed to be a championship course; we'd never design a course that isn't eminently playable for the average player.
"It's got to be fun."
