The ministry says it bought the land, the size of more than 11 rugby fields, as a potential site for either the relocation of Wakatipu High School, from inner Queenstown, or a new school.
Ministry policy manager Jerome Sheppard said the purchase was made after estimates indicated the Queenstown Lakes district will have more than 1000 additional school-age pupils by 2026.
The site was not expected to be used for schooling purposes until at least 2017.
"Remarkables Park was identified by the ministry as a logical choice for the location of a new school, given its central location and its proximity to future student populations," he said.
"We'd love to get under way; the sooner the better. We've done quite a bit of work on the site we're on, but with the benefits of a brand new school, the sooner we're there the sooner the kids can be using it."
Asked what would happen to the present site, Mr Turner said it was known the school would eventually move when it built the new $2.25 million arts block last year and both the block and the campus could become a "valuable community asset".
Remarkables Park Ltd co-director Alastair Porter said his company would be responsible for building roading, sewerage, telecommunications and electricity infrastructure for the new school.
"The ministry said they would like the site to be available for a new school by 2014, including services," Mr Porter said.
"We are looking at working on that infrastructure over the next 12 months and I can't imagine they are going to be ready to build a building inside 12 months. They've got to design it and get the consents."
Mr Porter said the site was already fully zoned for a range of purposes, including education.
Asked if aviation noise would be an issue for pupils and staff, given the site's proximity to Queenstown Airport, he said the noise boundary clipped the northwest corner of the site, which was earmarked for a playing field and was nowhere near classrooms.
The agreement with the ministry was not a land-swap deal. A "fair and reasonable deal was struck" he said when asked how much money the ministry spent on the site.
"The new high school will be at the heart of future expansion of the Remarkables Park Town Centre, which has been approved to double in size, and is also near Remarkables Park's proposed civic and other amenity facilities, which will include performing arts and a conference centre."
The school would be "a great fit" with the Southern Institute of Technology tertiary campus and a new child-care facility at Remarkables Park, catering for 75 pre-school children, which is expected to open in autumn next year.
The school will also be accessed by the new eastern access road running between Remarkables Park, Shotover Park and State Highway 6, as well as by walking and cycle trails connecting to the wider Queenstown trail network.
