TOP STORY: Mount to get $120m apartment towers

By Graham Skellern
A stunning $120 million twin-tower apartment complex is set to be built near the beachfront at Mount Maunganui.
The 11-storey, 38.5m high twin-tower complex was made possible thanks to an audacious land swoop in which real estate agents spent a year negotiating with 17 owners in the Mount's downtown.
The titles between 7-13 Maunganui Rd and at 6 Marine Parade will be amalgamated into one large site of 3985sq m - plenty of room to build 69 apartments up into the air and have three levels of car parking in the high-density zone at the beginning of Maunganui Rd.
Already 16 of the luxury apartments are under contract - even before the development is advertised next week.
Similar in size to the neighbouring Oceanside Twin Towers, the proposed new complex is as yet un-named. One tower is eight floors and the other seven - they will rise from a three-level podium which will comprise 32 units for visitor accommodation. Above them are 30 luxury apartments priced between $595,000 and $2.95 million.
There will be two swimming pools, one for adults and the other for children, on the landscaped podium roof - and the owners of the two $5m penthouses at the top of the towers will also have the choice of a lap pool on their roofs.
Developer Rob Donald, of Donald Design, said it was no mean feat buying up so many properties - "if you told people you were buying nearly an acre at the top end of the Mount, they'd say 'get out of here'."
It will be the last big site that can be developed for a high-rise next to Mount's Main Beach.
Dr Donald, who built the nearby luxury Hot Spot Apartments, the Sun Pacific timeshare resort and the Customhouse retail/apartment complex, would not reveal the cost of the land purchase. But he said it formed a significant portion of $120m to build the apartments.
Agents secured properties ranging from a row of ageing units to modern, two-storey townhouses, and a multi-million-dollar house on Marine Parade. Many were holiday homes owned by out-of-towners.
Dr Donald said he looked at options for the site - including a hotel - but went for a twin-tower because "it was a marvellous opportunity to do something attractive.
"I love the Mount and hopefully the development will give pleasure to a lot of people for a long time. I believe people are looking for larger apartments that are elegant and spacious."
Marketing agent Malcolm Eden, of Colliers International, said dealing with 17 vendors was always a challenge but this opportunity only happens so often.
Buying the Skousgard family home on Marine Parade was the key to making the development work - the new owners will have easy access to the beach and the cafes. A wing containing three large luxury apartments and four two-level units designed in the shape of a hockey stick will be built on the Skousgard site.
Oceanside Twin Towers established the apartment trend at the Mount when it was built in 1995.
Clive Tippins, who developed the Oceanside in the shadow of Mauao, said it was inevitable that all the land in the high density zone would be built on - that's what the city council was looking for to manage the population growth.
"The outlook has changed a lot since I built 11 years ago - and people have become more apartment orientated.
"You only have to look at the (population) projections ... will people decide to live on the quarter-acre or 800sq m section? I don't think so," said Mr Tippings. "Another high rise the same height is going up against the road."
Developer Jack Jenkins, of Asia Pacific Management, told the Bay of Plenty Times that he was planning to start his 11-storey apartment building at 6-8 Maunganui Rd by the middle of next year - the same time as Dr Donald's development, which will be built by Marra Construction and completed early in 2009.
"I heard they were doing something and I'm sure there's plenty of room in the market.
It will bring a bit of excitement to the area and it's got to be good for the Mount and the city," said Mr Jenkins.
He spent nearly three years obtaining a resource consent to build 76 apartments and four levels of basement carparking.
Dr Donald and his team are confident their consent application will be non-notified because the number of apartments is below the maximum allowed and the daylighting and height falls within the planning rules.
Dr Donald has also made sure there's sufficient parking. The main 150-space carpark is at ground level but visitors will be able to drive up to the first level and park near the front door of the unit. An extra 100 carparks in the basement will be sold to the public.
* On Monday: They held out for years, so what convinced the Skousgards to sell their prime Mount section?