Former Whangārei supermarket site gets $15.5m upgrade

Corey McCamish, left, and Paula Halaufu, asbestos removalists, move scaffolding onto the job with Arco Group site manager Hadlee Matson in the background. Photo / Tania Whyte

The $15.5 million redevelopment of a high-profile site means people will be able to visit Whangārei's newest medical precinct then walk only metres to a hub of fast food outlets.

With the Northland Regional Council (NRC) giving its blessing to the project, work on the council-owned former Woolworths and Countdown site on the corner of Kensington and Kamo Rds began this week.

The plan includes a rebuilt west "wing" housing a medical precinct, while a gym, convenience, retail and hospitality businesses — about 12 tenancies all up — will occupy the eastern side facing Kamo Rd.

A graphic of what the Kensington and Kamo Rds corner development should soon look like. Photo / Supplied

''The refurbishment is designed to ensure a good commercial return on a prime site that has been vacant for several years," NRC chief executive Malcolm Nicolson said.

The project is planned to be completed in two stages, the first due to be finished midway next year.

Under the newly approved plan, the bulk of the property will be kept in NRC ownership as a tenanted investment. The value of the land involved, approximately $4m, is included in the total $15.5m rebuild.

At this time last year, the council said it intended keeping the whole site, valued at $5.5m, but it has since sold a 1700 sq/m parcel on the northern side for ''an undisclosed sum''.

The buyer, charitable child care centre operator Best Start, intends running a centre catering for up to 75 children, and will own the building and land outright.

"This sale will help pay for some of the redevelopment costs associated with the refurbishment of the existing property,'' Nicolson said.

Whangārei-based Arco Group has the main contract to carry out the complete make-over of the site that has been sitting bleak and all but abandoned for five years.

An adjoining pharmacy, women's clothing store and post shop, which have stoically carried on trading after the supermarket's closure, will be relocated within the new precinct.

The council's ''development partner'' is Auckland-based Argyle Estates Ltd, specialising in building accident and healthcare centres throughout New Zealand and the Pacific. The company is also a big player in the retail development market, including big-box and more niche chain retailing.

Argyle spokesman Gerome Powell described the project as ''exciting''.

The redevelopment will include some of New Zealand's best-known retail brands, almost all of which will be new to Whangārei, as well as some established local businesses, he said. A range of food outlets are among the promised tenants.

"The strategic location of the site, and quality of the development has attracted significant brands such as BurgerFuel, Sal's Pizza and St Pierre's Sushi,'' Powell said.

"Our goal when we started work was to deliver the premier retail centre in Whangārei and we believe we are on track to achieving this."

The building has been vacant since June 2014 when former tenant Countdown, previously Woolworths, moved to Regent after 26 years at the site. The sale was delayed for two years to allow Whangārei District Council to do roadworks at the intersection. That work was then also held up largely because of Public Works Act acquisition issues.