Business South June 2021

10 | Invercargill Central “At the outset of the project, the aim was to try and get as much of the money spent in Invercargill and in Invercargill businesses.” T to page 12 Central city rejuvenation on track T Russell Fredric REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT S tage one of the ambitious $165 million redevelopment of Invercargill’s retail heart, covering almost an entire central city block, is close to achieving its mid-point milestone. The project is being undertaken under the umbrella of Invercargill Central Limited which involves a joint venture between Invercargill City Holdings Limited (a council-owned invest- ment enterprise) O’Donnell Family Invest- ments, the Provincial Development Fund and Geoff Thompson O’Donnell Family Investments directors Scott and Jocelyn O’Donnell, also directors of transport giant H W Richardson, originally spearheaded the vision for the redevelopment which covers the block of buildings between Esk Street and Tay Street, bordered on the east and west by Kelvin and Dee Streets. Just three buildings in this block, the Kelvin Hotel and Reading Cinemas have been untouched, while three historical building facades in Esk Street have been retained. Invercargill Central is being undertaken is being completed and opened in three sepa- rate stages. Stage one comprises the construction of anchor tenant Farmers’ two-level store, some accompanying ground floor retail space and an adjacent upper level car park which opens in May 2022. Stage two involves retail space, food and beverage outlets and further car parking with completion of the final stage of the entire project planned for late 2022. The project constructed area covers 60,000 square metres, of which 35,000 square metres comprises car parking. The car park structure, which will be adja- cent to Farmers, will form the roof for about half the retail areas with the total number of retailers expected to number about 59. There are also further plans to develop a medical centre in the block. In a design and plan statement presented to Invercargill City Council by development architects Buchan Group, Scott O’Donnell described it as a once-in-a-lifetime opportuni- ty to give Invercargill a bright and bustling city centre. In recent decades Invercargill’s central retail precinct has been affected by big box retailers establishing their businesses in the outer edge of the central city, effectively creating a secondary retail hub,. The development of Invercargill Central aims to bring vibrancy and new life back into the heart of the city. Invercargill Central project director Geoff Cotton says the demolition and redevelop- ment of an entire block on an established site is unprecedented. The redevelopment will be complemented by the construction of a nine -storey tower on the north- west corner of the block for H W Richardson. Make hard easy We’re your local READY mix experts, proudly supplying our inner-city development. 0800 4 ALLIED | alliedconcrete.co.nz