A desperately needed worker accommodation complex proposed for Frankton is expected to cost $115 million to build, employ about 500 people during construction and house up to 710 local workers.
The proposed accommodation could also meet more than 10% of the expected increase in rental accommodation demand in Queenstown over the next 10 years.
More details have come to light about the plans, first revealed by Mountain Scene last July, after they were fast-tracked for consent by the then-government.
It is understood the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) is expected to make a decision about the project by Australian-based developer No1 Hansen Road Ltd in about a month.
A three-level carpark has already been built and the 3.5-hectare site, bordering State Highway 6 between the Frankton Cemetery and Hansen Rd, has already been subdivided into 14 lots.
Supporting documents to the EPA show the developer intends to develop in stages the newly created lots into about 20,000sqm of staff accommodation that would be able to accommodate more than 700 workers.
No 1 Hansen Rd director Eli Shellim, of Sydney, said they were keeping their fingers crossed they would receive approval.
Subject to that they expected to start further construction "some time this year".
According to a report from Arrowtown-based regional economist Benje Patterson, that would start to address the rental housing crisis in the Wakatipu.
He said rental bonds data from the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment showed the number of rental houses rose by just nine in the 12 months to May last year, from 4125 to 4134.
That was "insufficient to keep up with population growth", given health records indicated there were at least 2248 new residents in the district registered with a primary health provider over the March 2023 year.
Mr Patterson said demand for rental accommodation from workers was expected to grow strongly over the next decade, and developments such as No1 Hansen Rd’s could play "a significant role in helping meet that demand".
"Population projections from Queenstown Lakes District Council anticipate that there could be 62,500 people living in Queenstown Lakes by 2032, which would be an increase of 13,000 people from Statistics New Zealand’s estimate of 49,500 people in June 2022.
"With close to 50% of Queenstown Lakes residents living in a home they do not own, the 13,000-person population increase over the next decade is likely to mean approximately 6582 extra people will be needing to find beds in rented accommodation by 2032."
He noted the collective labour supplied by future residents at Hansen Rd would generate about $60m of GDP per annum in Queenstown Lakes’ economy — that was about 1.5% of the district’s current economic output.
