Jade Lake Queenstown is designed to accommodate 120 houses and units over 2.2 hectares, including an innovative ‘Bridge House’ over a gully.
Newly-consented stage one consists of 20 properties off Wynyard Crescent, including two stand-alone homes at the top which haven’t been released to the market.
The balance comprises five-bedroom, five-bathroom, dual-key duplexes, three-bedroom, three-bathroom terrace units and two-bedroom, two-bathroom apartments.
Of those 18, five are already under contract.
Sizes range from 73.7 square metre two-bedroom apartments to 300sqm duplex houses.
Prices range from $950,000 for the two-bedroom apartments and $1.5 million to $1.55m for the terrace apartments to $2m to $2.8m for the duplexes.
The development’s headed by local-based Singaporean Homy Yang, project manager David Wang, who’s worked on more than 30 international projects, and a design team led by Auckland-based OZAC Architects.
When first floated last year, several neighbours voiced concerns over the scale of the development and the effect on Wynyard Cres traffic given it’s already congested due to on-street parking.
However Jade Lake’s exclusive agents, Harcourts Queenstown’s Priscilla and Feleki Uhrle, believe it will energise Fernhill, given its quality.
"It’s very difficult to buy a new property in Fernhill,” Priscilla says.
"This is a really exciting opportunity for someone to get a brand-new home with fabulous, unobstructed lake views.
"I just think that as the town grows, lake views are becoming fewer, and this is just an easy five-minute drive into town.”
She believes the development will in fact increase the value of other properties in the vicinity.
There’s a big emphasis, she notes, on both architectural innovation and eco-friendliness.
The project will use super-insulated, air-tight structural insulation panels.
Yang says they cost a lot more than traditional building materials but speed up the construction process. Another feature is the generous use of skylights which increase natural sunlight into the units but also expand the view.
Architect Tom Jing comments: "The most valuable thing about Queenstown is its scenery and the view of the lake.
"We not only made good use of it, but have promoted it.
"We introduced the view to our project and also introduced the project to the natural environment.”
Yang hopes site clearance will start next month, and that stage one will be completed by the end of next year.
By Philip Chandler
