20 | Development brings new life to city’s CBD Scott O’Donnell: “It’s easily the biggest development in the city and reception has been very positive.” from page 18 REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT Invercargill Central B.B CUNNINGHAME LTD Cow Shed Wall/Pit/Floor Coatings ALL TYPES OF WET AREA NON SLIP FLOORING Southland owned and operated for 50 years For a Free Quote PH: 0274 328 537 Em: glenn@bbcunninghame.co.nz 50 Spey St, Invercargill RESIN FLOORING & SPECIALIST COATINGS WATERPROOFING & MEMBRANE ROOFING Make hard easy We’re your local READY mix experts, proudly supplying our inner-city development. 0800 4 ALLIED | alliedconcrete.co.nz Contact us today 91 ANNAN STREET, WEST INVERCARGILL - 03 218 2093 Experts in abrasive blasting, Intumescent coatings and industrial coatings on steelwork. Industrial coatings extends the overall lifetime of materials As the name suggests, the aim of Invercargill Central was to centralise the city. Bulk retailers had started to move to the fringe of the CBD – but that meant just 400m away. So Invercargill Central was to be a big factor in linking up the city centre with the fringe, says Scott. The first challenge was securing the six blocks of land that Invercargill Central is built on between Esk Street and Tay Street, bordered by Dee Street and Kelvin Street. It already contained a hotel and cinema, so it made sense to build on this and expand the city’s central offering, says Scott. The majority of the land holding was owned by one offshore investor and once they had agreed to sell this was a big step forward for the project. Christchurch architectural practice Buchan designed the masterplan. He says careful consideration was given to design a contemporary, functional centre that provided an engaging customer experience while remaining in scale with the existing buildings it was surrounded by. Three heritage building facades have been preserved and worked into the new development, including that of the former Southland Times building, Coxshead Building and Cambridge Arcade, all on Esk Street. Other challenges included resource consents taking longer and costing more than predicted. Financing the project has been via a variety of funding options, both public and private investment including Geoff Thomson and Community Trust Southland. Kānoa – Regional Economic Development and Investment Unit has become a shareholder and a has provided a long-term government loan. As with most construction projects Covid-19 also threw challenges into the mix re price escalation. This was largely mitigated through contracting arrangements and securing materials early in the project to give price security. The project is being constructed by Amalgamated Builders and Scott says that local skills and labour have been used wherever possible Major impact - page 22 meaning more jobs are being created – both the people applying for jobs because of the project and the local businesses engaged to provide services.
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