Residential subdivision could be Arrowtown's last

Arrowtown is a historic gold mining town and popular tourist destination near Queenstown. Photo / Supplied

House builds are underway in what's probably central Arrowtown's last residential subdivision.

Three Mayors Ridge — named after three generations of the Reid family who were mayors of the former Arrowtown borough — has been developed by the family trust of the late Eamon Cleary, who built up a big Whakatipu property portfolio.

It comprises 12 flat or gently-sloping lots bordered by Caernarvon, Surrey and Villiers Streets.

It's also bordered by Reidhaven, built in 1866, which housed those three generations until Jack Reid, the borough's last mayor (1980 till 1989), died in 2016, aged 95.

The lots — the last of which sold in October — all come with consented house designs in keeping with the site's 'residential historic management' zone.

Design requirements include cedar, stone and plaster exteriors while there's also an extensive landscaping plan including street-frontage hedging, fencing and plantings.

Ten lots provided for three-bedroom homes and two for two-bedders, with all but one of the three-bedrooom homes over two levels.

Section sizes ranged from 290 to 440 square metres while sale prices ranged from $675,000 to $915,000 for two prime sites.

After the initial launch in autumn 2018, seven lots sold.

Co-listing broker Rory O'Donnell, from Colliers International's Queenstown office, says in the process they got feedback from potential purchasers.

''To the credit of the developer, he took on board the feedback from Colliers' project team, and with the assistance of the planning and design teams we achieved a better outcome for the development.''

Specifically, designs for four of the homes were varied and more off-street parking in the form of double garaging was provided to lessen the subdivision's impact on the surrounding neighbourhood.

O'Donnell says the seven existing buyers also approved the changes.

Once Queenstown's council approved a variation of the existing resource consent, the other five sections were put on the market in late 2018.

Four sold quickly, while the last to sell was a two-bedroom lot.

Buyers were both local and from around the country.

Out-of-towners, O'Donnell says, were partly attracted by the fact the consent allows owners to use their homes for visitor accommodation for up to 100 days a year.

Buyers also appreciated the subdivision's close proximity to downtown Arrowtown.

Three builds are now underway with a further five expected to commence next year.

With no other subdivisions looming in central Arrowtown, O'Donnell suggests anyone else wanting a new home in the area will have to redevelop an existing property.

''Arrowtown's very restricted in terms of its growth, and there's no other sites, so it's going to have an impact on pricing.''