However, the community will not be consulted on the issue until next year.
After discussing the report at a full meeting of the Queenstown Lakes District Council on Thursday, councillors agreed a draft consultation document would be considered by the next council at a workshop in the new year.
That document is likely to present the two options as the Frankton Village/Five Mile corridor or the CBD.
The report concluded the Five Mile corridor — the retail and commercial area extending from The Warehouse to Glenda Dr — was preferable for leasing, while "Frankton Village" was preferred for a new building, because the council already owned a suitable site.
Repeated questioning by Cr Gavin Bartlett brought an admission by chief executive Mike Theelen that "Frankton Village" was shorthand for the Queenstown Events Centre site, and likely the playing fields at the site’s eastern end.
Cr Bartlett, who said that effectively made it "indistinguishable" from the Five Mile corridor, said he was "bamboozled" by the report.
He asked why the council could not consult on build and lease options for all the locations, as well as the Remarkables Park retail and commercial zone.
Mr Theelen said the consultants’ report, which included a cost-benefit analysis comparing building-and-owning versus leasing over a 25-year period, had identified "value propositions" for each location, where either building or leasing was preferable.
The report said the CBD offered strong civic identity and economic diversification beyond retail and hospitality.
The decision means the council’s long-running project to house its staff in a single building has been deferred to the next council, after October’s local body elections.
Staff are now spread across five different locations, and the leases on those buildings begin to expire in 2028.
After a singular focus on the Stanley St site in the past few years, councillors directed staff earlier this year to compare it to sites outside the CBD.
In 2019, the council proposed a joint venture with Ngāi Tahu Property, called Project Manawa, for the Stanley St site.
Under that proposal, a new council headquarters would be the first stage of a development that also included a performing arts centre, gallery, library and commercial properties.
However, no formal negotiations have taken place.
The council’s 10-year plan, passed last year, estimates the cost of the headquarters building alone at $60million.
