Future of Napier buildings up for discussion at meeting

An artist impression of what a hotel development in Napier CBD could look like. Photo / Supplied

The future of Napier City Council's civic buildings will be discussed at a public meeting tonight.

As its two CBD buildings have been found earthquake prone, the council is considering how to make best use of them in future.

In June seismic assessments showed the Civic Administration Building met 10 per cent of New Building Standards and the Library Building, 15 per cent.

In light of this council have put a statement of proposal on the sites out for consultation. This suggests the council could divest the site now occupied by the administration building, either by sale or long-term lease, to a private developer for commercial development.

A feasibility study found the commercial use which would best benefit the city would be a hotel, rather than retail, or office accommodation.

The statement of proposal will be one of the topics discussed at tonight's meeting, which will also provide more information on where council services will be held until refurbishment is complete.

Also to be discussed will be why the council and library are moving and where to, what happens to the vacated council site, and the future of Napier's library.

The idea of facilitating the development of a hotel on this site, with council services and staff moving into the neighbouring Library building was floated by council earlier this year.

The detailed seismic assessments were commissioned ahead of a planned $7 million refurbishment of the office buildings, detailed in the Long Term Plan 2015-25.

From January, the city's library will temporarily be housed in the storage area of MTG Hawke's Bay.

It was expected that council staff would begin moving into their three new Napier CBD work spaces this month. The intention was to have all staff out of the current buildings by Christmas.

-The meeting will be held at 5.30pm tonight in the MTG Hawke's Bay Education Room.

- More details on the Statement of Proposal, including the submission form, are available at napier.govt.nz keyword #councilbuildings. Submissions close Friday 3 November.