When the last few tenants of Queenstown's former Lakeview campground move out or are evicted later this month, big business will move in.
Auckland investment company Augusta Capital and Melbourne developer Ninety Four Feet together finally signed an agreement with the Queenstown Lakes District Council on Thursday.
The consortium proposes a range of residential buildings, hotels, co-working and co-living spaces, hospitality and retail options on a staged basis, with construction estimated to take more than 10 years and phased over seven stages.
The site, part of a 10ha hillside terrace above the CBD towards the Skyline gondola hill, has been home to generations of holidaymakers, long-term and short-term tenants.
The whole site is a complex mix of reserve land, council-owned freehold land and roads.
Back in 2016, there were 168 cabins at Lakeview; 91 owned by council and 77 privately-owned.
But it has long been the council's view that the 4.4ha of freehold land was "underperforming" commercially. So, when the land lease expired for the 77 private owners, QLDC ordered them to remove their cabins or give them to council. Council has been renting out the remaining cabins since then.
The consortium will develop part of the land. How much is unclear. Other elements of the "Lakeview Precinct" will be delivered through other QLDC development partnerships.
These include a hot pools attraction delivered by Ngai Tahu Tourism and a new hotel developed by Well Smart Limited.
A final area of Lakeview land will be retained in the short-to-medium term as tenant accommodation.
