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Duke & Cooke Property News |
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Published on: 19th October 2009 SENIORS FIGHT ARTS CENTRE SENIORS FIGHT ARTS CENTREGrey Power wants analysis The Nelson City Council’s plans for a $ 28 million performing arts and conference centre are ‘‘political dynamite’’, according to Grey Power, which is preparing to fight the proposal. At the same time, some hospitality and tourism providers are frustrated with the constant talk and just want the council to get on with the job. The council will meet on Thursday to discuss a series of recommendations, including working in partnership with Rutherford Hotel Holdings on the project and consulting the public on its plans this month. Nelson Mayor Kerry Marshall confirmed this morning that the public consultation was on the concept only, and he did not envisage further consultation if it proceeded to the design stage. The council has a conditional agreement to buy a 3662-square-metre site beside the Rutherford Hotel from Rutherford Hotel Holdings. The Talley’s owned-company would be required to contribute to the project by providing the conference centre as an extension to the hotel. A newly released economic report commissioned by the council recommends that the centre should involve a 1000-to 1200-seat performing arts centre and an 800-to 850-seat conference centre. Grey Power local body affairs committee chairman Dan McGuire said the organisation wasn’t against the idea of a performing arts centre but it wanted to see an objective analysis first. He wasn’t convinced by the Business and Economic Research Ltd ( Berl) report, which estimates that the centre could boost the local economy by $1.1m a year, noting that it failed to identify the centre’s operating costs. (The Nelson Mail, Monday 12 October 2009) REGION'S PROPERTY VALUES STILL TRAILINGHouse prices in Nelson and Tasman are still lagging behind where they were a year ago while property values in most main centres have increased compared with last year. Quotable Value says provincial centres have not risen as much in recent months as the main centres. Its September quarter statistics, released today, show that Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin property values were between 0.4 and 2.2 per cent above values at the same time last year. Nelson was 0.5 per cent down and Tasman was 0.1 per cent down but the region continues to perform above the national average. Nationwide, property values were 1.1 per cent down compared with September last year. (The Nelson Mail, Monday 12 October 2009) RESIDENTS DEMAND ACTION ON MOUNDTasman district councillors copped flak last night from Mapua residents demanding to know whether a mound of contaminated soil at the village’s former Fruitgrowers Chemical Company site will be removed. The three councillors attending the Mapua and Districts Community Association meeting – Trevor Norriss, Brian Ensor and deputy mayor Tim King – could not give direct answers, saying council staff were working through the issue. Association spokesman Devin Gallagher said the community was getting frustrated. The grassy mound, which contains a core of soil with contaminants of up to 200 parts per million, was left behind after the $13 million cleanup of the site. It sits on the eastern side of the site, where the council plans to develop a waterfront park. An audit report on the remediation has confirmed that the land is fit for residential, commercial and open space use, subject to certain conditions. (The Nelson Mail, Tuesday 13 October 2009) ARTS CENTRE ON THE AGENDAA full report that looks at the possible economic benefits of a performing arts centre in Nelson is available on line via The Nelson Mail website nelsonmail.co.nz. The Nelson City Council is to discuss at its full meeting on Thursday a list of recommendations to be considered for adoption, including that it goes ahead with a special consultative procedure to seek public feedback on a final push to go ahead with the $ 28 million performing arts centre. (The Nelson Mail, Tuesday 13 October 2009) SOILED RESERVES SPARK CAMPING CALLTasman Mayor Richard Kempthorne has called for a nationwide single policy on freedom camping, after concerns that some of the most beautiful spots in the district are being spoiled by irresponsible freedom campers. His comments came during a Golden Bay Community Board meeting yesterday at which a Takaka backpacker hostel owner expressed her ‘‘disgust’’ at the amount of rubbish and human excrement found at Anatori, on Golden Bay’s west coast. Mr Kempthorne said he was aware of at least 12 beauty spots in the district where there was a problem, near Motueka as well as in Golden Bay. A bylaw was needed, but it was difficult to police, especially in remote areas. (The Nelson Mail, Wednesday 14 October 2009) ENERGY-EFFICIENT FRIDGE HOUSE GETS WARM SUPPORT AT AWARDSA Washington Valley Rd house built like a fridge has been named among the region’s best building designs in the 2009 Nelson Marlborough Architecture Awards. The Fridge House, designed by Nelson firm Irving Smith Jack Architects, last night won the small project architecture category and the people’s choice award. The home, built with polystyrene refrigeration panels, was built for less than $100,000 and won accolades for its simplicity and light airy interiors. Judges described it as one of the most unusual and low-budget winning projects. They said that despite its name and position on a cold, south-facing valley-floor section, the prefabricated panels provided such good insulation that the home could be heated by a single plug-in heater. Irving Smith Jack Architects principal Andrew Irving said he was ‘‘excited and delighted’’ with the award, which was presented at The Boathouse. The awards programme is organised and run by the New Zealand Institute of Architects and supported by Resene. The commercial architecture award was won by Matz Architects for Wakatu House, off Montgomery Square car park in Nelson. The building was praised by the judges for its ‘‘confident presence’’. The new NMIT teaching block, by Jerram Tocker Barron Architects, earned a premier accolade in the public architecture category for its use of colour to enhance the individual spaces in the building. Public architecture honours were also awarded to the ‘‘ reinvention’’ of the Stoke Medical Centre by Irving Smith Jack Architects. The Contour Roofing factory was among the best commercial architecture winners, earning its designers, Jerram Tocker Barron Architects, points for its ‘‘optical effects’’. The Sachi Sushi & Seafood Bar in New St, Nelson, by Arthouse Architecture, was sole winner in the interior architecture section. (The Nelson Mail, Thursday 15 October 2009) HOUSE SALES AND PRICES REFLECT CONFIDENCE RISENelson housing prices are on the up, the latest Real Estate Institute figures show. The September figures reflect strong sales, with 83 homes sold in Nelson city, up from 73 in August. The median price was $ 345,000, up markedly from $ 305,000 in August and from $333,500 in September last year. Significantly, properties are also selling more quickly. The number of days on average for Nelson-Marlborough properties to sell was just 29, down from 35 days in August and 64 days in September last year. (The Nelson Mail, Thursday 15 October 2009) CONFERENCE CENTRE MOVEThe owners of Nelson’s Rutherford Hotel have commissioned experts to draft a concept for a conference centre on land next to the hotel, general manager Bevan McGillicuddy says. He told The Nelson Mail this week that Rutherford Hotel Holdings, which is owned by the Talley’s Group, had engaged quantity surveyors to explore the viability of an architecturally designed conference centre. It was also looking at extending the hotel to expand its accommodation capacity on the central city site off Selwyn Place. The company had gone into partnership with the Nelson City Council to look at developing a venue that incorporated a performing arts and conference centre. The two organisations planned to build separate buildings on land next to the hotel. (The Nelson Mail, Friday 16 October 2009) PUBLIC OPINION SOUGHT ON ARTS CENTREThe Nelson City Council has taken another step towards the finish line of a 15-year marathon over addressing the need for a large performance venue for the region. It has to negotiate the next hurdle around public consultation, due to open next Friday and close on November 24. The council indicated earlier last year that the site next to the Rutherford Hotel also offered opportunities to develop aspects of a performing arts centre where height was a requirement. The land purchase will not go ahead if the council decides not to build the performing arts centre. (The Nelson Mail, Friday 16 October 2009) NELSON DESIGNERS SCOOP PRIZESThree Nelson architectural designers took out prizes in the annual Architectural Designers New Zealand Inc/Resene 2009 National Design Awards last night. Brian Johns, of Upper Moutere design firm Brian Johns Architectural, won the Residential Alterations and Additions section for his restoration of Neudorf Hall, an Upper Moutere bed and breakfast built in the 1870s. The same structure also won him a finalist berth in the roofdesign category. Nelson-based architectural designer Bill Revell, of Bill Revell Design Ltd, won the First Time Entrant award for his house in Lauria Way, Nelson. He was also a finalist in Sustainable Design. (The Nelson Mail, Saturday 17 October 2009) PROPERTY WATCHChange at Gracefield Villas in the Gracefield Living complex for people aged over 55 in Nayland Rd, Stoke are now being sold as freehold properties. The complex is no longer being managed by Tauranga-based Lifecare Solutions, and Bayleys Nelson has started marketing villas for sale. Principal Graeme Vining said the developers had decided to move away from licences to occupy because the market hadn’t taken to it, partly because banks wouldn’t lend on a licence to occupy, and valuers found them hard to value. The development had also been scaled down, from 200 villas and apartments to 80 villas on just half the property, he said. ‘‘What they were doing originally was building on spec – now they build on commitment.’’ The complex has nine completed villas and two under construction. Mr Vining said five had been sold unconditionally, including three through his agency during the past two months. Prices range from $345,000 to $595,000. The complex, with a gym, a spa, a lap pool and a communal room, appealed to more active people still wanting some lifestyle, he said. Paratiho lodge sold The Lodge at Paratiho Farms, a private luxury retreat at Ngatimoti that closed its doors last year, has sold to a British couple who are moving to New Zealand. The Nelson Mail understands that settlement is yet to take place. The lodge, on an 809-hectare farm, was developed by Sally Hunt and her late husband Robert Hunt, who came to New Zealand from the United States. It first went on the market in 2003. Complex under way A $1.2 million hall and administration block under construction at St Joseph’s School in Nelson is due to be completed by Coman Construction next April. Principal Mike Burton said the development would replace an old hall and provide an administration area for the school and the parish. It will include offices, meeting rooms, a sick bay and a kitchen area. ‘‘The design of it fits in with the existing buildings, particularly the church.’’ The project began about six weeks ago. It was being funded by the parish and the Wellington-based Catholic Schools Board, Mr Burton said. Home for Hopgoods Award-winning Nelson restaurateur Kevin Hopgood has purchased the California House Inn bed and breakfast at 29 Collingwood St. The eight-bedroom villa was built in 1893 and converted into a B and B by an American couple in the 1980s. Mr Hopgood said he had no plans to run it as a guest house. ‘‘It won’t be a cooking school, it won’t be a doctor’s surgery – it will be our family home.’’ The Mail has previously reported that the property sold through Harcourts last month prior to auction for more than $1 million. Successful auctions Three properties auctioned through Ray White last weekend all sold. A twobedroom plus sleepout home at 166 Bridge Valley Rd, Wakefield with an RV of $485,000 went under the hammer for $530,000, while a four-bedroom home in Sutton St, Richmond fetched $406,000. Its RV is $315,000. Meanwhile, a two-bedroom cottage overlooking Tahunanui Beach at 589 Rocks Rd was passed in at $660,000. Its RV is $500,000. Ray White Stoke principal Christine Cook confirmed that a sale of the Rocks Rd property was later negotiated, but she declined to comment on the price of it or the other properties auctioned. (The Nelson Mail, Saturday 17 October 2009) DID YOU KNOW?Duke & Cooke independent valuations can be used for compensation valuations and negotiations. THOUGHT FOR THE WEEKBe thankful for problems. If they were less difficult, someone with less ability might have your job. |
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