The last remaining pockets of land in Wanaka's Meadowstone subdivision are to be developed into residential lots to help meet a predicted building boom in the town.
The new sites come nearly a decade after the previous stage of the development was released to the market.
An application has been made to the Queenstown Lakes District Council by Willowridge Developments Ltd for the creation of 18 residential lots averaging 700sq m each within the existing residential area of Meadowstone.
The 2ha low-density residential site is located on the southeastern corner of Old Station Ave and Wanaka-Mount Aspiring Rd, with Stoney Creek running through the site.
Meadowstone developer Allan Dippie said the proposed lots constituted stage seven of the overall subdivision and would be the first new sections available in Meadowstone since 2004, when stage six went on the market.
In the intervening period, Willowridge had concentrated on developing and selling its West Meadows subdivision, west of Cardrona Valley Rd. However, the time was right to progress Meadowstone again, Mr Dippie said.
''We're starting to run out of well-priced, close-to-town sections.
''We've got a few left in West Meadows, but these are even closer.
''We're predicting, obviously, some demand in the near future ... a bit of a building boom back in town, so we've got to keep a step ahead of that and we're just lucky that we've got the land to do it.''
Willowridge would also seek consent soon for a further 20 or so lots at the other end of Old Station Ave, on the final piece of undeveloped land in Meadowstone. Those sections would range in size from 450sq m to 900sq m.
Mr Dippie was not concerned about a potential oversupply of sections in the Wanaka market during the next few years, which could include 1600 new dwellings off Aubrey Rd as part of a private plan change set to be publicly notified this year.
Meadowstone had always been a popular area for property buyers because of its closeness to town and the lake, and he expected the new sites would be ''snapped up''.
About 60 of stage six's 95 available sites had sold in the first day, while the remainder sold during the next two years.
There were now nearly 500 homes built within Meadowstone since stage one was developed in 1993, when the original 24 sites sold for around $40,000 each.
Mr Dippie said the sections in the final two stages would be priced competitively by today's standards.
''I think we're going to have to be competitive and that's going to mean starting prices just under $200,000.''
The land on which Meadowstone is located was originally part of the historic Wanaka Station property farmed by the Sargood family from the early 1900s.
