BP Oil has been granted resource consents to build a BP Connect service station and truck stop on Bruce Rd, off the Tauranga Eastern Link/State Highway 2.
A spokesman for BP said earthworks had started but an opening date had yet to be set. New sites usually generated about 20 new local jobs.
A site plan of the new BP Connect service station and truck stop going in on Bruce Rd. Graphic / Supplied
The station would also include a car wash and a bevvy of edible temptations for commuters, including a convenience shop, Wild Bean Cafe and selection of Krispy Kreme doughnuts, Häagen-Dazs ice cream and Wishbone ready meals.
BP had been granted a land-use resource consent by Tauranga City Council and, from Bay of Plenty Regional Council, resource consent for earthworks and temporary discharge.
Just off the highway, meanwhile, Mitre 10 was in the early planning stages for a Mitre 10 MEGA store and a medical facility at 142 Domain Rd.
The hardware and building supplied company bought the 14-hectare section of former farmland opposite the Waipuna Hospice Shop last year.
Chief property officer Grant Fraser said the company was in the process of applying for resource consents.
Fraser said the plan was for a new big-box Mitre 10 MEGA to be owned and operated by the owners of the existing Mitre 10 Pāpāmoa store on Gravatt Rd.
Mitre 10 was a co-operative and all stores were locally owned and operated.
"Pāpāmoa is expanding rapidly and we identified the need to increase our footprint in this area to meet the needs of this fast-growing community," Fraser said.
It was too early to say how many extra staff members the larger store would need, or when the store, all going to plan, would open.
The Bay of Plenty Regional Council confirmed it was processing a resource consent for Mitre 10 Holdings for earthworks to improve drainage at the flood-prone site.
Waipuna Hospice chief executive Richard Thurlow said he had heard rumours about a Mitre 10 development over the road, but this was the first confirmation.
He hoped the development would include good traffic management planning.
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New big box stores were also in the pipeline for Pāpāmoa Plaza on Gravatt Rd.
Manager David Hill said a newly built childcare centre and office block were about to be handed over to the tenants for their individual fit-outs.
The 800sq m Beststart childcare centre, with capacity for 90 children, was expected to open towards the end of March.
A 1200sq m office block - tenanted by a Body In Motion physio, a recruitment agent, a property company and one other business - were due to open in April.
Next month, he expected to be able to announce more detail about the next phase of expansion: a 2000sq m large format store retail development.
He said the tenants would include both companies already in Pāpāmoa and some new to the area.
In total, he expected the office and retail expansions would create more than 170 jobs, with an extra 310 car parks being added in stages.
Papamoa Plaza general manager David Hill. Photo / File
Hill, who was also the deputy chairman of mainstreet organisation Pāpāmoa Unlimited, said the retail sector in Pāpāmoa was "bullish" about growth.
"Retail is booming, it really is, despite what you may read... Bricks and mortar are complimented with online sales.
"Things are going exceptionally well."
Foot traffic was increasing, as Pāpāmoa continued to grow at a rate faster than the regional or national average.
He said retail sector's response to that growth could be seen along the length of Pāpāmoa, from the new Fresh Choice supermarket in the west of the suburb, to the expansion of the Excelsa Centre in Golden Sands to the east.
An artist's impression of the Excelsa building under construction on the corner of Golden Sands Drive and Papamoa Beach Rd. Graphic / Supplied
Four Square Papamoa Beach, one of Excelsa's first stores, moved into a newly built store on the other side of Golden Sands Dr late last year.
The former site has been flattened and developer Bluehaven Group had confirmed a 1122sq m two-storey building is being constructed in its place.
Chief executive Nathan York said the new building would house tenants Coastal Vet, Anytime Fitness, Hello Sushi and the new Bluehaven offices.
It was hoped the building was to be open by August. It would take the total area of the Excelsa Centre, at the Papamoa Beach Rd end of Golden Sands Dr, to 5000sq m.
