The plan was to develop an internationally branded hotel on the Durham St corner site, linked to the civic administration building by a convention centre.
"However, there was no sense doing that unless we had a decent anchor tenant, and the council wanted to stay where it was."
Paul Adams, who chaired the Civic Amenities Group, announced his ambitions to build a high-rise commercial development soon after he purchased the property last year.
"We have decided we need to be seen to be involved in this redevelopment, rather than just complaining about the lack of council action in revitalising the city centre," he said.
Tauranga's former mayor, Stuart Crosby, said the proposal was put to him and council chief executive Garry Poole. It then went into the mix of other proposals being considered by the council's civic heart sub-committee.
Mr Crosby said Mr Adams was one of a number of downtown landowners who approached the council with proposals to put the new administration building on their properties.
At the time the approaches were made, the council was seeking advice on whether to stay on the current site or disperse into the downtown. The consultants recommended that it would be cheaper, with better gains, to stay in the civic block.
"I agreed with that," Mr Crosby said.
Mr Crosby, elected to the regional council last year, said the purchase of the former bank building by Quayside Holdings was to create a business innovation investment hub that linked to initiatives like Waikato University's Coastal Marine Field Station at Sulphur Point and the Newnham Technology Park at Te Puna. It would also be Quayside's office.
Quayside chief executive Scott Hamilton said it was a great concept, but they were still renovating the two-floor building and had not signed up anyone for an investment hub.
He said they were looking at multiple tenants with shared spaces.
Mr Hamilton said the purchase of the former ANZ Bank was a commercial investment in bricks and mortar that provided rental opportunities.
Tauranga's previous council agreed to amend the 2015-25 Long Term Plan to allow construction of a new civic administration building by a public/private partnership in which it procured the building by a lease-back arrangement with a private-sector partner.
Quizzed on whether the current council could change this decision, Transformation Committee chairman Councillor Larry Baldock said nothing was set it stone when it came to decisions on the 2018-28 Long Term Plan.
Mayor Greg Brownless said he liked the idea of the council owning the underlying land and his gut feeling was that the council should also own the building.
The breakdown
53 Spring St, Tauranga
Property size: 863sq m
Capital value (2015): $3.85m
Sold November 2016: $3.9m