"We are talking about a vision for the area. We are not talking about a specific purchase," said Hamilton mayor Andrew King about the planned Victoria on the River precinct. Image / Supplied
"We are talking about a vision for the area. We are not talking about a specific purchase," said Hamilton mayor Andrew King about the planned Victoria on the River precinct. Image / Supplied
Plans to potentially purchase property as part of Hamilton City Council's new inner city park Victoria on the River precinct have been revealed.
Hamilton Mayor Andrew King will on Thursday brief council in a public-excluded chair's report of his plans around the precinct.
Victoria on the River is a multi-million dollar project to transform a car park on the riverbank to an urban park. Work began last year, but the project has been delayed due to contract negotiations.
Hamilton City Council governance manager Lee-Ann Jordan confirmed to the Herald the report was in relation to the Victoria on the River precinct and a potential purchase.
However, King said it was not directly about purchasing the neighbouring properties 260 and 266 Victoria St from Hamilton property developer Matt Stark, but was part of a "bigger vision".
"I'm not saying it's nothing to do with them [260 or 266 Victoria St], I'm saying it's a far bigger vision than that," he said.
"All it is, is a vision. There's nothing more than that. There's nothing concrete. There's no sales and purchase agreements. There's no discussion with anybody."
The chair report was addressing developer contributions and what the council planned do with the Victoria on the River precinct, he said.
There were things the council was looking at purchasing, King said, but there was nothing "locked in".
An artist's impression of how Victoria on the River will look when complete. Image / Supplied
An artist's impression of the Victoria on the River precinct. Image / Supplied
"We are talking about a vision for the area. We are not talking about a specific purchase. It's not a specific property - it could be a range of properties."
When asked whether there were many other properties that could be purchased to link in with Victoria on the River, King said: "This is a bigger vision than a property next door to Victoria on the River."
There had been no conversation with Stark about purchasing either property, King said.
Stark told the Herald his company had purchased 266 Victoria St at the start of 2016 and more recently 260 Victoria St for its own intentions.
He had not had any discussion with council about the buildings, Stark said.
"The reason why we purchased that one [260] was purely for a strategic hold because we own three [properties] north of it."
He also owns the property on the other side of the carpark - the newly redeveloped Riverbank Lane.
However, it was not unheard of for people to approach him about buying properties he owned.
At tomorrow's full council meeting, King is also proposing council revoke a decision made last September to reactivate Hamilton Properties Ltd. He denied the items were linked.
