The $1 sale of the multimillion-dollar site of the abandoned Harington St Transport Hub has sparked calls for a strategic approach to parking in Tauranga's CBD.
The Tauranga City Council confirmed yesterday it had reached an unconditional agreement to sell the Harington St site where the half-built parking building stands.
The buyer is Waibop (Harrington) Limited, a subsidiary of Watts and Hughes Construction Group Holdings Limited.
Watts and Hughes was the lead construction contractor on the original transport hub project.
It is not, however, one of the parties the council is pursuing legal action against over structural issues that led to it abandoning the $29m project mid-construction last year.
The agreement covers the sale of the site for $1, the sale of unused materials and structural steel purchased for use in the building, and a negotiated settlement for the cancellation of the construction contract.
In total, the council was paid $200,000.
Council infrastructure general manager Nic Johansson said that while the sum was considerably less than the site's $5.35-million land value, it was the best possible outcome for the city, both financially and in the provision of future carparking capacity on the site.
Johansson said the council would have had to spend close to $10m to demolish the existing structure and restore the site if it kept it.
Now, the buyer will have full responsibility for the property, including getting approval to demolish - or partially demolish - the existing structure and redevelop the site.
The buyer had also undertaken to provide and maintain at least 200 public carparking spaces in a new building on the site, or 95 at-grade spaces if the structure is demolished.
Ray White Commercial team's managing director, Phil Hunt, said the deal was "marginally better than nothing, in my opinion".
"I applaud it, it's better than nothing but only just. There's a huge, long way to go."
Hunt said that over the past four to five years about 400 carparks had been lost from the CBD. Most of these were for the redevelopment of the waterfront or Wharf St or Durham St, "which I'm in favour of".
He said the council at the time said the new transport hub would make up for the lost parks.
"So here we go again. No one remembers. It's more broken promises," Hunt said. "This still does not help the CBD's future."
Many businesses in recent years had left the CBD because of the lack of leased parking, Hunt said.
If put up for lease or sale, the potential 200 new carparks could be gone in two weeks because businesses were so desperate, Hunt said.
Sustainable Bay of Plenty's Glen Crowther said it appeared the council tried to make the best from a very bad situation for it, ratepayers, and people wanting to park in the CBD.
"The other immediate issue is parking in the central city. This unfortunate disaster demonstrates that councils should probably not be building more parking buildings," he said in his opinion.
"It reinforces the need to sort out a comprehensive parking strategy for the whole city and a public transport plan that makes catching a bus to town much more attractive."
Crowther said many people would still want to drive "but unless we want to be known as a city of congestion, with concrete flyovers and parking buildings all over town, we need a decent 21st-century public transport system and we need it soon".
Transport advocate Heidi Hughes said the sale of the hub was "the best of a really unfortunate situation".
Hughes, who resigned from her role as a city councillor in December, said she did not believe providing carparking was a council's responsibility.
"This is signalling that yes, it was really handy to have bike parks and showers in there but this is something that organisations should be looking at themselves, what do they need to provide for their staff?
"I believe this is a good move onwards. It will help to start rebuilding the city."
In response to Hunt's criticism, a council spokesman said the council last year committed to monitor parking availability and "take action to keep supply and demand in balance" which remains the case.
He said the agreement for the Harington St site retained a significant number of public parking spaces.
Construction of the seven-storey transport hub was halted in September 2019 over structural and foundation issues found after a steel beam twisted during a concrete pour.
The council decided to formally abandon the project in June 2020, with $19m already spent from a planned budget of $29m.
The total accrued costs, as of September, were $20.5m.
The hub was expected to have 250 parking spaces for cyclists, 53 for motorbikes, 535 car parks, 15 mobility parks, electric charge points for cars and e-bikes, and showers and lockers.
In August the council initiated civil proceedings in the High Court against some parties involved in the project, in an attempt to claw back some of its losses.
In October it provisionally approved the demolition of the structure, pending now completed negotiations for another option for the site.
The property title transferred to the new owner on March 19.
Harington St Transport Hub timeline
June 2018: Construction starts
July 2019: Council told of potential design issue
September 2019: On-site work suspended
June 2020: Project abandoned
August 2020: Council decides to pursue legal action against some parties
October 20: Council provisionally agrees to demolish the structure
March 2021: Council sells site.
Source: Tauranga City Council
A disregard for authority could be why those attending court are thumbing their noses.