KEY POINTS:
Auckland's busiest apartment developer has not given up on the city, despite prices slumping in recent months.
Robert Holden's Conrad Properties has proposed a 17-level 204-unit apartment block with four shops, an office and 42 carparks for the CBD.
Plans for his new Myers Park Residences show it will front Greys Ave and Mayoral Drive and rise beside Myers Park.
In February, Holden said Auckland City's steep new development contributions had virtually killed the market and he had shelved a 200-unit block because of an extra $7 million in council charges.
Developers would pay $40,000 a unit in development levies where land is $3000/sq m and $80,000 a unit where land was $10,000/sq m, as on Queen St, he said. Previously he was paying only around $6000 in development contributions. But his latest planning application showed he wanted to develop at 48 Greys Ave. Conrad was entering talks with the council to get access from Mayoral Drive into Myers Park.
The developer already had demolition consent for a seven-level office building on the site, a council report said, but a condition of this consent was that the existing building must remain until resource consent was granted for the apartment tower.
The new block will be eco-friendly, Conrad said, adding that it had a five-year plan to become a leader in the field of sustainable design for residential and commercial projects.
On-site waste recycling, special heating and cooling features, the tower's orientation and rainwater harvesting were all considered in the tower's design.