KEY POINTS:
Developers working on Auckland's Tank Farm development are discussing building a cheap housing cluster in the heart of the city's waterfront makeover.
John Dalzell, project director for Sea+City, a subsidiary of Auckland Regional Holdings, yesterday announced that a component of affordable housing was earmarked for the marine area.
Over the next 25 years, the 35ha sweep of land to the east of downtown Auckland will be transformed from a bleak industrial precinct into a modern waterfront. The multibillion-dollar project will include apartments, offices, shops, bars and cafes, as well as the existing marine and fishing industries. There will also be a 4.25ha park jutting out into the Waitemata Harbour that could include an iconic public building.
The Government wants to force developers to build low-cost housing in all new residential estates to redress rapidly falling home ownership levels.
This month, a parliamentary committee sat in Auckland to hear submissions on the new affordable housing law which would give councils powers to strong-arm developers.
Patrick Clifford, director of Architectus Auckland and the designer who has worked on concepts for the Tank Farm, said yesterday no prices had yet been discussed for affordable houses and details were yet to be finalised.
Mr Dalzell said precisely where and how the bargain housing could become part of the mixture had been encouraged by the Tank Farm's technical advisory group.
He cited Piermont in Sydney as an example of an area with a desirable social mixture, adding: "We're looking at how that could be adapted here."
Asked if this could mean dozens or even hundreds of places selling for around $250,000, Mr Dalzell said this was not decided but the places could be built in the middle of the development, not on waterfront edges where prices would be at a premium.
He was responding to questions about public concern over multimillion-dollar apartments being developed in the Western Reclamation area, and he criticised the CBD for having a narrow range of apartments which appealed to few groups and particularly ignored families.
Next Tuesday, independent commissioners will begin hearing a private plan change application for the area which could see its zoning changed from industrial, marine and commercial uses to a new mixed-use belt. Around 700 submissions are expected to be aired and building heights will be hotly debated.
On the election hustings last year, Auckland City Mayor John Banks described plans for the Tank Farm as "hideous" and promised a five-storey limit on buildings.
Mr Dalzell and Mr Clifford yesterday said the area would be low-rise, in keeping with the city's waterfront.
The contract to let a $7 million upgrade of the sea wall under the North Wharf would be announced in the next three weeks, Mr Dalzell said. The job will be finished next year.
BP Lubricants' large tanks had been demolished on one large block, a move which started about a decade ago, he said.
Golden Bay Cement had agreed to move from its Tank Farm site six years before the lease was due to expire and this had opened up new prospects for the west end of Jellicoe Street, he said.
A $35 million Te Wero bridge across the Viaduct Harbour is planned to open up an entertainment strip on Jellicoe St for the Rugby World Cup.
BIG MOVES
* $7 million sea wall contract about to be let.
* BP Lubricant tanks have been demolished.
* Golden Bay Cement leaving six years before their lease was due to expire.
* Plan change hearing starts next Tuesday.
