Seventeen "co-living units" and 84 car parks have been dropped from a planned billion-dollar development in Queenstown.
The consortium behind Lakeview-Taumata submitted revised plans to a fast-track consenting panel on Friday, showing a reduction in overall building heights in a series of five inter-connected buildings, largely in line with the panel’s earlier recommendation.
The highest building in QT Lakeview Developments’ initial plan was a 13-storey, 51.3m accommodation block, on a site with a 26m height limit.
However, last month the panel considering the application for the first two stages — comprising 224 apartments, 96 co-living units, 432sqm of ground-level retail space, 2068sqm of hospitality space and 148 car parks — indicated it would reject the proposal unless the building heights were lowered.
The consortium filed its revised application on Friday, accompanied by a planning memo from the panel, prepared by Mt Hobson Group’s Mark Benjamin.
He said the building heights had been reduced, generally in line with the panel’s suggestion, though suggested steps in the roof line were omitted.
That allowed the project to offset the significant reduction in gross floor area, and allowed a "more efficient and cleaner build process".
QT Lakeview Developments had tried to retain as much saleable residential floor area as possible, so there were three key changes made — omission of "podium-level" food and beverage and recreational activity; a reduction in the residential floor-to-floor height to a "more conventional" 3.3m; and a reduction in the number of floors in the podium from four to three.
The changes had altered the overall mix of co-living and apartments proposed. The developers now proposed 79 co-living rooms and 224 apartments, with car parking reduced to 64.
Mr Benjamin said given the "dramatic reduction in floor area proposed", it had a significant impact on the feasibility of the project.
"The applicant has advised that the changes represent a reduction in saleable premium stock varying from a [minimum] of 11% to 36% in the upper parts of the building."
Any further reduction in building scale would increase the need to "value-manage the project", he said.
"I am cognisant that the upper floors of the project hold the highest value and, thus, hold significant importance to the viability of the project.
"Feasibility-wise, squaring off the building makes sense to capitalise on the greater value of the premium apartments."
The panel has until Friday next week to issue its decision.
