Concept plans for a $1 million-plus three-storey building on the Grumpy Mole Saloon site that will house a new restaurant and office tenants have been unveiled.
Demolition of the saloon on The Strand began last week and, after contacting the new development manager, the Bay of Plenty Times can reveal construction on the almost 1200 sqm (or 400 sqm per floor) building is expected to start in eight to nine weeks.
Completion is scheduled around April next year.
Veros Property Planners development manager Peter Williams said the demolition of the old building was expected to take up to six weeks, followed by an archaeological process similar to what took place at the Horny Bull restaurant site.
That involved individuals with hand tools scraping away layers of the ground checking for any historic artifacts, he said.