May 5, 2020

NZ Urban Development news from the media | 5 May | Costco grocery superstore will be the size of two rugby fields

*|MC:SUBJECT|*

Hi *|FNAME|*, Please find below Urban Development News from the media from the week of 5 May 2020.

Provided by Rockhopper Development Advisory, a member of:

Costco grocery superstore will be the size of two rugby fields

Costco has been given the green light to build its first store in New Zealand that will cover nearly two rugby fields and cost $100 million.

Auckland Council has approved the resource consent applications for the three-storey building at Westgate.

Costco, the second largest retailer in the world after fellow United States giant Walmart, announced plans to build its first New Zealand grocery warehouse last June.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/121300819/costco-grocery-superstore-will-be-the-size-of-two-rugby-fields

Fast-track consenting to get shovel-ready projects moving

The Government has announced a major element of its COVID-19 rebuild plan with a law change that will fast track eligible development and infrastructure projects under the Resource Management Act to help get New Zealand moving again.

Environment Minister David Parker said the sorts of projects that would benefit from quicker consenting included roading, walking and cycling, rail, housing, sediment removal from silted rivers and estuaries, new wetland construction, flood management works, and projects to prevent landfill erosion.

The changes were approved by Cabinet last week and new legislation is expected to be passed in June.

https://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/fast-track-consenting-get-shovel-ready-projects-moving

Auckland’s city centre vision gets a digital platform

Auckland’s City Centre Masterplan, the visionary document to guide the city centre’s development for the next 20 years, is now accessible to all via a new digital platform.

The masterplan, which was endorsed by Auckland Council’s Planning Committee in March, sets out a vision for a greener, safer, and better-connected city centre that celebrates our unique Māori identity.

Councillor Chris Darby, Planning Committee Chair acknowledged the changes COVID-19 is having on our city centre and the way we view street space.

https://www.aucklandccmp.co.nz/

Wellington $25m apartment development launches sales and marketing amid pandemic

Colourful Wellington property investor Chris Parkin is promoting a $25 million 80-unit modular apartment development in downtown Wellington, called Otto, amid forecasts of falling property prices and pandemic-driven recession.

Parkin, famous in the capital for shifting the Museum Hotel two blocks on steel rollers, rail tracks and huge ball bearings in 1993 from the Wellington waterfront to its present location on the corner of Cable and Tory streets, is marketing the development in which the key shareholders and developers are Kevin Podmore and James McArley.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/121309136/wellington-25m-apartment-development-launches-sales-and-marketing-amid-pandemic

The Government Housing Programme Dashboard | March 2020

The Government housing programme dashboard is published by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development, using publicly available information from various government agencies and partners. The February 2020 dashboard shows the latest facts on housing progress across the housing system.

https://www.hud.govt.nz/assets/News-and-Resources/Statistics-and-Research/Housing-Dashboard-2020/4381b606a0/Housing-dashboard-March-2020.pdf