Developers request extension of SHA

Developers of an existing Special Housing Area near Queenstown have applied to the Queenstown Lakes District Council to extend their development which, if approved, would more than double the number of housing units on the site.

Bullendale Development Ltd gained consent as an SHA for 88 dwelling units at Arthurs Point last June.

Last week, developers Shane Fairmaid and Buzz March began marketing the third stage of the initial development after the sell-out of 27 stage one and two townhouses, primarily purchased by first home buyers.

Stage two homes were priced from $609,000.

The developers have now applied for an extension to Bullendale, on about 4ha of land immediately west of the existing site, owned by Frank Tomasi and family.

Mr Tomasi, who has owned the site since 2006, is a leading figure in Australia’s National Electrical and Communications Association and was awarded an Order of Australia in the 2013 Australia Day Honours list.

The masterplan for the extension catered for an additional 91 dwellings which, if approved, would be built in stages.

Fifty of those, at this stage, would be in "walk-up terraced apartment configuration" and the balance would be low-level, semi-detached and free-standing dwellings.

The developers considered the proposed SHA site was appropriate because it was a co-ordinated extension to Bullendale and would "seamlessly integrate" with the adjoining, approved and under construction development.

Access would be provided through the existing Bullendale subdivision.

The majority of the proposed new development was focused around the lower part of the sloped site, closest to Arthurs Point Rd.

"The masterplan for the development builds on the development approach advanced on the adjoining land to the east, in the existing SHA, whereby compact townhouses are delivered on compact sections to deliver ‘market affordable’ housing," the application said.

"These housing typologies have wide-ranging and flexible applicability, providing options for owner-occupiers, first home buyers and ‘workers’."

Further, Bullendale had already started early discussions with the Queenstown Lakes Community Housing Trust and the developers were committed to the 10% community housing contribution.

The application said because the entire development would be delivered by the developer, as opposed to a model where single or multiple vacant sections were sold to individual parties, property speculation would be avoided.

The development would have maximum building heights of three or four-storeys above the basement/ground level car park with a total of 1500sq m planned for reserves/open space.

Aurum Consultants had assessed water, stormwater and wastewater infrastructure capacity to service the development using a "conservative" view of 100 dwellings. Aurum concluded there was capacity  to  cater for the proposed development.

Jason Bartlett Consulting did a transport assessment and considered existing transport infrastructure, including the construction of consented infrastructure at Bullendale, would be able to accommodate the  added transport demands.

"Assuming the SHA is established, Bullendale is strongly motivated to obtain resource consent before the repeal of HASHAA [Housing Accord and Special Housing Areas Act]," the application said.

"This is for Bullendale’s own commercial reasons, but also reflects the fact that obtaining a SHA represents a ‘use it or lose it’ scenario of development rights. We consider that the proposed SHA will contribute significantly to the social, economic and environmental wellbeing of the Queenstown community, by delivering affordable housing to the community in an appropriate location, underpinned by strong urban design principles."

While the Act did not provide for formal consultation on the establishment of SHAs, the council wants public feedback before 5pm on December 7.

The council hoped to consider the expression of interest at its last meeting for the year, on December 14.

tracey.roxburgh@odt.co.nz