Simplicity Living is expanding its Queenstown development project to more than 1000 long-term rental homes from its original plan for 600.
The company confirmed yesterday it had been referred by Infrastructure Minister Chris Bishop into the fast-track process for consenting, and managing director Sam Stubbs was hopeful construction could begin in January should it be accepted.
When completed, the 10ha development will include 100,000sq m of floor area.
‘‘When you're building a development this size it has to be very sympathetic to the area. So we're going to be bringing a lot of elements like a lot of central Otago schist into the construction. There's going to be very, very large green spaces where we're well more than what the council wants us to have in terms of green spaces.
‘‘So we're wanting this to feel very much like it was designed and conceived in Queenstown for Queenstown.
‘‘The vision there is to provide a whole lot of long-term rental housing for locals — one of my catchphrases here is that there's no Jafa ski houses here. So this is for locals, for long-term rent.’’
Mr Stubbs said he thought of the idea after considering the ‘‘teachers, nurses and cops that are having to commute from Cromwell to be able to afford to work in Queenstown’’.
‘‘There will be an ever-growing need for normal Kiwis doing great jobs to look after their communities and this will just be another option for them.
‘‘If you look at the OECD countries, the wealthy countries of the world, 42% of them live in apartments and if you look at New Zealand, 50% of adults presently live in renters' accommodation.
‘‘So, the problem we have is we have a whole lot of people renting, but we haven't had long-term rent and housing stability for renters in a way that's very common overseas.’’
Mr Stubbs said should the project get the fast-track tick, the idea would be a rolling series of construction of about ‘‘one house per working day’’ which would be released in stages so as not to ‘‘flood the market’’.
The company had already consulted closely with the Queenstown Lakes District Council, Otago Regional Council and iwi, he said.
Queenstown Lakes Mayor John Glover welcomed the project.
“The development of a large-scale, high-quality build to rent offering is something that could significantly support the wellbeing of our resident community and it’s great to see this proposal.
“I'm sure the fast-track panel will take an objective look at how the proposal sits against our current plans and we look forward to seeing the end result.”
