In the lee of Deer Park Heights, it’s the Peninsula Hill subdivision, halfway along Kelvin Peninsula, featuring big, north-facing sections overlooking Lake Whakatipu.
Developed by Kawarau Falls Station owners Liz Dickson and her brother Mike Mee, the first stage, launched in 2018, comprised 17 sections.
The second stage, launched in 2022, east of the first stage, featured another 17 sections priced from $1.55million to about $2.45m.
Fourteen of those sections — average size 1820 square metres — have sold with another under contract.
Buyers, according to local Colliers agent Fred Bramwell, who’s marketing Peninsula Hill alongside colleague Zach Hylton, are mostly Kiwis, including expats, a couple of Australians and a Singaporean couple.
"A good amount has been locals stepping from Jack’s Point or wherever."
Titles were issued only about six months ago, which explains why so far only four builds are under way.
The third stage features 13 sections, west of the first stage, ranging from 1200sqm to 1998sqm.
Prices range from $1.85m to about $2m, with a few pre-sales already concluded "for people that have been looking for a long time", Bramwell says.
Mee says they’ll start earthworks soon for about 65 sections, including these stage-three ones, "to protect the new houses from having to put up with a whole lot of earthworks for the next three years or so".
Sections will be at the same height or slightly above the first two stages, he adds. "I think the sections in the next stage will be better."
He admits he and Dickson haven’t been in a hurry to develop Peninsula Hill.
"We don’t want to cover it in houses in any great rush.
"My son was telling me we used to go out there shooting rabbits, and he’d rather it stayed like that."
Mee says design controls aren’t as stringent as Jack’s Point’s — "we’re stipulating stuff they can’t have but we’re not really telling them what they can have".
Bramwell, speaking of Peninsula Hill, says "there’s nothing in the Basin that’s sort of north-facing big sections and everyone’s got a big lake view".
About 95% of stage-three sections will have fully engineered building platforms, he notes — "buyers get a platform ready to build on when they buy".
Developers dish up a restaurant
Along with continuing their upmarket subdivision, Peninsula Hill’s developers are also preparing to break ground for a cafe/restaurant (left) on their western edge, by the turn-off to Deer Park Heights.
Mike Mee expects construction to start around the second quarter of next year.
Their company received resource consent approval this past winter for an indoor/outdoor facility with 257sqm of floor area and 249sqm of decks.
With a maximum height of 7.5m, it’s said it’ll blend in with its rural surrounds with its gable and veranda roof design, building materials like recycled corrugated iron, stone and wood and comprehensive landscaping.
There’ll be 48 carparks over two levels plus bike parks.
There’ll also be fruit trees, vegetable gardens and, potentially, a glass house.
