Two lakes to mirror Central Otago’s soaring landscapes, more bars and restaurants, an ornate Victorian-style 70-seat orangerie and restoration of the U-shaped wooden farmhouse where the Paterson family lived from the 1864 — that’s only the start of expansion at a new venue that opened in December.
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As if six bars and restaurants were not enough to cement the $200 million-plus venue as one of the region’s top new destinations, what could be this country’s most audacious tourism project is now entering its next development phase.
“Six down, but a dozen all up” is how Winton chief executive Chris Meehan summarises his plans for those next hospitality outlets in the destination precinct that opened on December 9.
It’s all on land owned by the NZX-listed entity at Waterfall Park next door to Millbrook Resort near Arrowtown’s outskirts.
“We have about another six bars and restaurants coming in the next year,” Meehan explains from near the waterfall that gives the land its name.
But his real focus right now is the planned five-building Northbrook Arrowtown retirement village and the neighbouring 18-room boutique hotel with a conference centre.
On May 4, Winton opens a $1m display suite at 1 Ayr Ave, Ayrburn, and it’s from that suite that Meehan is telling of the plans.
The village exterior architecture is by Woods Bagot in Perth and its interiors are by Winton, each of the five existing and planning Northbrook villages to have precisely the same interiors.
“The interior is an exact replica of one of the apartments in the new luxury retirement village so people know precisely what they are buying. We think it will be very well received. We sit adjacent to Millbrook, we’re right adjacent to The Hills golf course and there’s a new Hogans Gully Golf Course being built as we speak,” Meehan says.
Occupation rights agreements on the 168 residences of one, two and three bedrooms will range from $1.36m to $8.5m for 56-280sq m places in the project due to be completed by the end of 2027.
The four-level buildings will have 142 independent living units, 26 care suites and a dedicated arrival and amenities building.
Interiors are a soaring 3.2m and kitchens will have Gaggenau appliances. A health club with a pool, hydrotherapy spa, gym, studio, salon, cinema, library, cafe and 24-hour concierge will be offered.
Winton won consent for this village in November and construction is due to begin next year.
Earthworks are now being done on the bank behind the hotel site, beside where the new village will go, a few hundred metres up the valley from the existing Ayrburn hospitality precinct.
Meehan says many Australians already have homes in the Queenstown area, so he anticipates about half the new village could be sold to them. Aucklanders and residents are other likely buyers.
Closer to the main Arrowtown-Lakes Hay Rd is where 2.5ha of new lakes are being dug, 2m down, on either side of the grand tree-lined entrance to Billy’s, the farmhouse built by settler William Paterson for his family.
A smaller lake of about half a hectare will have a jetty where children will be able to fish for kōura or yabbies to be given to chefs to serve on pizzas.
A larger lake of about 2ha will be more focused towards weddings, with Meehan anticipating four to five weddings a week at Ayrburn.
An island will be developed in the lake, specifically for wedding party photography with such dramatic backdrops.
“It will take us five years, but we’re hoping to be the most visited destination in Queenstown. I’m pretty confident we’ll achieve that. We’re approaching the 20 per cent ‘done’ mark. We’re 15 to 20 per cent completed.”
Meehan grew up in the area, went to Queenstown Primary School and recalls how at the age of 3 or 4, he would visit Waterfall Park with his family to swim beneath that waterfall and play there.
Some people compare Ayrburn to Sydney’s upmarket The Ivy bars, dining and nightclub precinct by Justin Hemmes.
Meehan bought Waterfall Park from the late Adrian Burr, the billionaire property investor of Viaduct Harbour Holdings, which owns the key Auckland waterfront precinct. So Meehan commemorated his friend via the whiskey-oriented Burr Barr in the small sod cottage with its pot belly stove. That was the original colonial settler Paterson family home.
Scotland’s Ayr is where William Paterson immigrated from and burn refers to the watercourse.
“Adrian originally wanted to live here and I wanted to live here originally too,” Meehan says. Plans changed, although a golf course was also once envisaged for the area, which Meehan says has those aplenty.
Paterson’s vision was big, the family expanding by having nine children and moving into the much larger neighbouring homestead, now being restored in a project designed by Sutherland Architecture Studio’s Jessie Sutherland.
In the next five years, Meehan expects to fulfil his big vision to complete the remaining 80 per cent of Ayrburn.
Anne Gibson and photographer/videographer Jason Oxenham visited Ayrburn courtesy of Winton Land.
'Developers are a good target for a council under financial pressure.' - Steve Evans