Papamoa centre set to be NZ's sixth biggest

National retailers are queuing to grab a slice of the action at Papamoa's new $50 million shopping centre - one of the country's six largest.
The Boardwalk at Papamoa Junction, bigger than Bayfair, will have about 37,000 sq m of retailing space and become one of the largest shopping centres in the country when it is finished in three years' time.
Detailed plans for The Boardwalk in Parton Rd have just been unveiled.
The shopping centre will sit alongside the commercial development on a nine-hectare site at Papamoa Junction and building of the first of the 40 stores - including a national appliance and a furniture retailer - will get start early next year.
The Papamoa Junction developers are staggered by the response to the open air shopping centre which will service a population catchment of up to 30,000 within five years. The developers have now lodged a resource consent with Tauranga City Council.
One of the Papamoa Junction directors Andrew Ling said: "We are in a position where we have more registrations of interest from prospective tenants than we have space available. It's caught us a little by surprise and the leasing will become a bit of an auction.
"Still we will end up with a well-laid out, well-tenanted shopping centre that will have a beachy feel and an emphasis on leisure and entertainment," said Mr Ling.
The developers have plans for ten-pin bowling, laser strike, ice skating, an upmarket bar and a four to six screen cinema complex which will be added to the shopping centre during stage four in 2007.
Mr Ling confirmed that the Papamoa Junction directors were talking to two of the country's biggest cinema operators, SkyCity Village and Reading Cinemas. SkyCity recently pulled out of establishing an eight-screen complex at Fraser Cove, creating an opportunity for Papamoa Junction.
Mr Ling said leases for five big anchor tenants should be tied up by the end of the month.
We have another 40 smaller operators sitting in behind ripping our arms off to get a slice of the action," he said.
Stages one and two will include a petrol station, fast food outlet, supermarket, hardware store, Westpac banking branch, Postie Plus group of shops, pharmacy, bookshop - as well as the furniture and appliance retailers who want to open between August and October next year.
It's understood a Countdown supermarket plans to open during the first quarter of 2006.
Stage three, to be developed during 2006, will include a range of boutique shops specialising in sunglasses to women's clothing.
Mr Ling said his company was excited about the future of the development and Papamoa.
A lot of people told us that Papamoa Junction was too far out but we sold all but three of the 46 commercial blocks within 18 months and the Papamoa Beach Gardens retirement village next door is underway.
"They will contribute to the success of the development and to the rapid growth of the area," said Mr Ling.
Papamoa Junctions Auckland-based retail consultant Paul Keane said the interest in the shopping centre was huge.
"It was more than I expected. The area is unique in New Zealand. Outside of Albany and Botany Downs, in Auckland, Papamoa is the most aggressive and it hasn't been hard to fill the retailing space."
When completed The Boardwalk at Papamoa Junction will slip in behind Botany Town Centre (51,034 sq m), Christchurch Northlands Shopping Centre (40,206 sq m), Auckland's Westgate Power Centre (38,207 sq m) and Westfield St Lukes (37,835 sq m) as the biggest retail complex in the country.
The Boardwalk will match Paraparaumu Coastlands Shopping Centre (36,920 sq m ) in the top six.