Ahead of Queenstown-Lakes’ estimated $3-to-$4 billion infrastructure build-out in the next nine years, one company’s getting the jump on expansion.
Design and build managing contractor Southbase, founded in 2013 in response to the Canterbury earthquakes, is significantly expanding its Queenstown premises, moving to larger premises and appointing Tim Stewart as its Queenstown-based construction manager as the region prepares for major investment across transport, housing, tourism and community facilities.
‘‘Having Tim on the ground in Queenstown is exactly the kind of commitment this region deserves,’’ Southbase founder and CEO Quin Henderson says.
‘‘The projects we’re working on here require people who understand the local conditions, the local contractors, and the local community.’’
Henderson says the company’s growth in the Queenstown-Lakes area will result in new local jobs, recruitment of several senior roles, and provide the opportunity for several long-standing team members to relocate back to the resort.
‘‘Queenstown and Central Otago are in a period of genuine, sustained growth, and that growth demands infrastructure that’s built to last.
‘‘This isn’t about chasing short-term opportunities; we’re here for the long term.’’
Southbase’s expansion’s aligned with a wave of approved and pipeline projects across the district, including the proposed Queenstown Cable Car, and other fast-track applications, and Queenstown council’s 30-year plan which is targeting 9300 new homes by 2050, requiring substantial investment in roads, schools and community facilities.
Henderson says over the past 13 years the company’s delivered over $2.9b in project value nationally, with $500 million of that delivered in the Queenstown-Lakes and Otago regions in the past decade.
Projects to date include Wakatipu High School’s expansion, Hanley’s Farm’s Te Kura Whakatipu o Kawarau, Wa¯naka Primary School and Winton’s Northbrook Wa¯naka aged-care facilities.
Southbase’s new Gorge Rd office is due to open on May 1.
