Opinion: Exciting times ahead for Tauranga's city centre

New developments are exactly what Tauranga's CBD needs. Photo/file

For years, Tauranga's CBD has been screaming out for a bit of life.

Its struggles have been well-documented - many shops have left the central city or closed completely, car parks have been lost, and many shoppers are choosing instead to spend their money at malls and shopping centres.

But it seems like hope is on the horizon.

In the Bay of Plenty Times Weekend, we reported on two new developments that are likely to bring a bit of buzz to the CBD - a $6.1 million project to turn Durham St and Durham Lane into a pedestrian-friendly student hub and the $100 million redevelopment of the Farmers building.

Both are hugely important projects likely to bring more people to the city.

The student hub is part of an overall project to beautify and rejuvenate the city centre.

"Beautification" may sound like a frivolous thing to be spending big dollars on, but it is actually a hugely important factor in a thriving city centre - you want people to want to be here, especially when there are other places they can choose to visit nearby.

It's why people love visiting Wellington - it's such a pretty city with so much to do, despite having possibly the worst climate I've ever been unfortunate enough to experience.

The Farmers redevelopment has obvious benefits - the department store is an anchor tenant for the CBD. People who go there are also likely to grab a coffee from downtown and browse a few other shops while they're at it.

The bigger and better it gets, the more people it should bring to the city.

And that's without counting the new residents it will attract with its apartments, or the new shops and eateries that will move there.

This is the right kind of development needed in our city.