The site will be developed by Ngai Tahu.
At least 20% of the proposed homes would be for social housing and at least another 20% would be affordable housing.
A memorandum of understanding was signed yesterday between the Crown and Ngai Tahu Property to look at development of vacant or under-utilised parcels of Crown land in Queenstown for housing. The present focus is the 6.5ha high school site in Gorge Rd, which will be decommissioned. Queenstown Lakes Mayor Jim Boult said the council was "delighted" and "very supportive" of the proposed partnership, and said Ngai Tahu had a proven track record of development in Queenstown.
A total of $252.2million of capital had been set aside for the programme to date — the funding was used to acquire land from Government agencies and private entities for housing developments.
In the resort yesterday, Social Housing Minister Amy Adams said while areas of land within the district’s boundary could be considered, the area of "most concern" was within the Queenstown urban growth boundary.
In Auckland — the only other centre where the programme is in place — the housing market had flattened and been in decline for "some months", but Queenstown’s housing market showed little sign of slowing.
It had the highest average house price in New Zealand, about $1million, Ms Adams said.
"The No1 thing that drives housing affordability is the supply of land.
"The most important thing we can do is increase the supply of land to the market," she said.
Ngai Tahu was "a long way" into the master plan process, so if the Ministry of Education decided the land was not required, "we can hit the ground running" and the multi-year development could progress "at pace".
Education Ministry Enablement and Support acting head of sector Susan Howan said the ministry appreciated there was "much local interest" in the future of the site, as part of the wider Crown plan.
It was "weighing up future education needs" in the Wakatipu before deciding if it would need the site in the future.
"The school-aged population in the area is expected to continue growing, so we are looking at where we will accommodate those students over time; if further school sites will be needed; and if so, whether the present Wakatipu site may be needed for future education purposes.
"A decision on the future of the site is likely to be made in the next six months."
Under the Crown programme at least 40% of any development was for social and affordable housing. However, some developments in Auckland had resulted in 70% of the dwellings being "affordable", Ms Adam said.
The "ceiling" price was $650,000, which was the KiwiSaver HomeStart cap.
In Auckland almost 1000 houses were either under construction or proposed and a "large number" sold for well under that price, she said.
