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Whangamata Marina Society president Mick Kelly says three concepts have been put forward for the building that will be built next to the marina.
The building would house the society's administration and the area coastguard, and would be equipped with a bar and restaurant, plus retail outlets, including a cafe and dairy.
"It'll be quite a good hub for Whangamata, because it will be the only publicly accessible building on the water front."
Mr Kelly promised physical works at the marina site would become obvious by the end of summer.
"The tenders for the big excavation job - the dredging of the basin and channel and the construction of the rock walls - have just closed. There's another job for placement of backfill to [create] new land, including behind the saltmarsh."
A separate tender process to construct the pontoons has recently closed.
The jobs attracted the interest of 30 people from 13 different companies at a recent tender meeting, and Mr Kelly hoped to appoint the successful construction applicants soon. About 165,000 cubic metres of the sea floor will be dredged, but 110,000 cubic metres of the lifted material would be used to reclaim a nearby saltmarsh. The remaining material will be taken away from the site.
As well as construction of the pontoons, a 1km rock-lined channel from the basin to the main estuary will be built.
It was the aim of the society to have the project complete by March next year, although the marina building that would sit alongside moored boats may not be finished until the following June.
