Apartments, hotel for Nelson St

Plans for the last and largest Auckland inner-city block left for redevelopment have been announced and the promoters say the project will better the higher standards demanded by the city council.

Pelago is seeking resource consents for 20 new buildings, which would be mainly apartments but including a hotel, underground parking, offices and shops, on the site of the former council depot in Cook St.

The site of nearly 3ha forms part of the Victoria Quarter - which the council has dubbed the former industrial area that runs from the western slopes of the Hobson St ridge down to Fanshawe St and Victoria Park.

Pelago director, Sydney-based Douglas Rikard-Bell, said the layout for the project was influenced by the council's vision for the Victoria Quarter.

The vision was leading to a change in the District Plan and demands that any redevelopment be based on a comprehensive structure plan.

"They are trying hard to make sure the standard is higher than the city is used to and I've decided to embrace that and work with the council," said Mr Rikard-Bell.

He hoped to develop the site over 10 years and have the first part of the project - some shops and offices - underway in three years.

The 1400 residential units applied for would come later.

The project is called the Nelson Quarter Depot Site.

The application says the layout of the buildings, separated by public open spaces, gardens, lanes and two cross-streets, would provide a high-quality inner-city residential precinct and presented a vision of a precinct with high environmental standards within an ecologically sustainable setting.

"The market is not what it was two years ago and I'm going to have to deliver something really good, otherwise this is not a smart thing to do," said Mr Rikard-Bell.

Buildings would be designed by different architects.

He would not put a figure on the cost of the project.

Auckland City central area planning manager Vijay Lala said the project, with a floor area of 150,000sq m, was similar in scale to the makeover of the Britomart Precinct now underway.

It was about one-sixth the size of the future Western Reclamation redevelopment.

"We see the [Nelson Quarter] project as a significant catalyst in the revitalisation of the western side of the CBD," said Mr Lala.

He said public feedback on the Victoria Quarter plan generally supported a lively, mixed-use area that blended city living with working opportunities.

A number of developments are in train for the Victoria Quarter.

Two resource consent applications are before the council for upgrading of the Victoria Park Market.

The Kitchener Group wants to build apartments, designer shops and food and beverage places by mid-2008 and to strengthen the old brick rubbish destructor chimney and restore the carthorse stables.

Kathmandu has applied for resource consent to add floors to the 200 Victoria St premises for mixed use and Les Mills World of Fitness has applied to add a swimming pool and on-site carparking to its Victoria St West premises.

A new office block is being built on the corner of Halsey and Fanshawe Sts.