18 | REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT Invercargill Central Karen Phelps Invercargill Central brings CBD to life to page 20 www.lewisbradford.com Lewis Bradford is proud to be providing the structural engineering expertise for this inspirational development. Congratulations to Invercargill Central Limited, the consulting and contracting teams, and the people of Southland on this transformative project. Invercargill is no longer taking a back seat to the larger cities with the opening of Invercargill Central. It’s attracted new people to live in Southland and the vibe of the CBD is distinctly positive, says Scott O’Donnell, chairman of the board of Invercargill Central Limited. “This was a once in a lifetime opportunity to give Invercargill a bright and bustling city centre where all manner of business and interaction can take place. “No one’s ever done an entire block redevelopment on an already-established site. It’s given Invercargill a lot of confidence. The CBD is now bright, shiny and new.” This was a key factor in the instigation of Invercargill Central - how to invigorate a tired central city district. It drew the mayors of the different districts in Southland together to form the Southland Regional Development Strategy (SoRDS). Southland had a lot going for it: low unemployment, low house prices and a multitude of industries including tourism and aquaculture. There was one big problem – people just didn’t want to live there. Scott says Invercargill Central formed one part of SoRDS’ goal of bringing 10,000 more people to Invercargill by 2025, making it a vibrant community. “The CBD was very run down. It had lots of rotting old buildings that couldn’t be restored. Farmers Trading Company, the anchor retailer, had left over a decade ago and headed out to a State Highway 6 location. “The CBD had no heart or centre, there was no good food, some car parking got removed from the main street and it was all downhill from there. Simply put it was cold and worn out. We thought about what the town required,” says Scott. Invercargill Central Limited was the result, a joint venture between Geoff Thomson, Kānoa Regional Economic Development and Investment Unit (formerly The Provincial Growth Fund), Invercargill City Holdings Limited, a council-owned investment enterprise, and O’Donnell CBD Limited. “No one’s ever done an entire block redevelopment on an already-established site. It’s given Invercargill a lot of confidence. The CBD is now bright, shiny and new.”
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