Stage one of his development — set amid historic farm buildings, a restored creek, extensive gardens, cycle tracks and a vineyard — opens December 9.
After buying Ayrburn Farm in 2015, Meehan, CEO of development company Winton, has spent five years building the precinct alongside Mill Creek around five old farm buildings.
Four have been repurposed so far as food and beverage venues — The Woolshed, The Manure Room, The Burr Bar and The Dairy — and they’ll be opening next month alongside an outdoor events space, The Dell.
The second stage, opening next September/October, will include high-end restaurant Billy’s, based on founding owner William Paterson’s 1864 homestead, a large pizza/pasta restaurant, The Barrel Room, and a butchery, bakery and florist.
Meehan — who’ll only say the development has cost "many tens of millions" — says locals will be Ayrburn’s "most important clients".
"If you give them a good offering, they’ll keep using Ayrburn all the time."
"Then, if we’re good enough, which I think we will be, the tourists will find us as well.
"You can grab anything from a quick pizza, quick burger, chicken roll, glass of wine, breakfast, all the way to Billy’s — we’d expect that to cost between $400 and $500 a head."
Meehan says they’ll also be very family-friendly with two playgrounds, including climbing structures in the shape of a rainbow trout and Paradise duck, a putting green and three swimming holes.
To entice locals, as well as visitors, Ayrburn has bought two buses to do continuous loops from Queenstown and Arrowtown, plus three shuttles for door-to-door pick-ups.
However, he’s also expecting 10 to 20% of guests will arrive by bike.
Development work’s included major cycle trail link-ups with neighbouring Millbrook Resort and Arrowtown, with a link to nearby Lake Hayes also on the way.
There’ll also be e-bike charging stations and bike repair stations.
He estimates he’s spent $10m alone on restoring Mill Creek, up to Waterfall Park, including putting in 30,000-plus native plants and about a dozen weirs and ponds with fish ramps for trout to swim up towards the waterfall to spawn.
"Most importantly, the weirs are [built] so the silt will be captured in the ponds."
That’s silt that’ll be disposed of instead of ending up in Lake Hayes, he says.
Already, the creek’s water quality’s "a hell of a lot better" than when he bought the property,
Meehan says that’s pleasing as he grew up nearby and kayaks the lake almost daily — "no one likes Lake Hayes more than I do".
However, what he’s proudest of is the workmanship involved in restoring Ayrburn’s historic buildings.
"It’s been a hell of a thing because they’ve had to be earthquake-strengthened and rebuilt, basically."
Up to 250 tradies have been on-site daily.
"When you go on a normal building site you see a tradie just working away, here they’ve attacked it with this most amazing passion."
Ayrburn will also be the only location for the award-winning wine label of the same name.
Already, almost 15ha has been planted out by the main road, though they also lease vineyards in Central Otago and Marlborough.
Wine production’s overseen by Master of Wine Sophie Parker-Thompson and winemaker JodyPagey.
Meehan believes Ayrburn’s extensive gardens will also become an attraction in themselves.
"By the time it’s finished it will be better than Queenstown Gardens."
Ayrburn’s also going to be the ‘gateway’ to Winton’s high-end Northbrook Arrowtown retirement village, which will be built towards Waterfall Park.
One of five "BMW of retirement villages", this one will have just over 100 self-care apartments and about 50 high-care units.
A sales office and full-scale display apartment will be complete by about March, with the village itself ready by late 2026/early ’27.
Come December 9, Meehan expects about 130 staff will be employed in the restaurants and 20 on the grounds — about 80% of those employed are locals, he estimates.
"When the retirement village is open and the rest of the restaurants are going, there’ll be a permanent staff of about 400."
Ahead of the opening, Ayrburn’s offering its venues to six local outfits for fundraising.
They include schools, Queenstown Trails Trust and Arrowtown Volunteer Fire Brigade — Ayrburn’s donating all food and beverage.
