Developer Allan Dippie said the contract was let recently to extend the main access road, Sir Tim Wallis Dr, past the sports stadium and out towards State Highway 6.
"Once the road is completed, it will unlock the bulk retail or large-scale retail development and the first sites would be ready to be built on in 2018," he said.
During the past few months, it appeared work had ground to a halt on the development, but Mr Dippie said much of the work had been putting services in underground.
"We’ve been getting all the critical services in like water, power, gas and fire, but people are going to start to see a lot more above-ground activity in the next six months."
Mr Dippie expected the first of two supermarkets to be open either next year or 2019, "as they are complex builds". He said Mitre 10 was near to confirming its proposal for a big store, as well as other retailers.
The idea for the 100ha Three Parks commercial, recreational and residential project development stems from workshops in 2002 looking at how Wanaka’s future growth could be accommodated. Mr Dippie spent 12 years developing the plan before earthworks began in 2014. He expected the development, by his company Willowridge Developments, would take another 20 years to be fully realised.
