Kāinga Ora’s plans for new public housing in central Rotorua

The Kāinga Ora development site on Victoria St. Photo / Andrew Warner

Up to 40 small apartments could be built for public housing on Kāinga Ora-owned land in central Rotorua.

The Government housing arm says it has a conditional contract with a developer for redeveloping the Victoria St section.

It comes as 897 applicants wait for public housing in the city.

Kāinga Ora said in a media release it had 500 public and supported housing homes in Rotorua at the construction, feasibility or planning stages.

It said public housing was planned for a 3300sq m site at 40 Victoria St.

Initial plans for the site, opposite Harvey Norman, were being progressed by the developer, who would design and build these for Kāinga Ora.

Kāinga Ora Bay of Plenty regional director Darren Toy said it was a “great location” in a part of the city that “supports higher-density mixed housing” near shops, services, schools and transport.

Toy told the Rotorua Daily Post about 30 to 40 small apartments were being explored for the site but it was too early to confirm the details as it was still working with the developer on the plans.

Kāinga Ora had been working with the developer on the project since late last year. The land was purchased by Kāinga Ora in February and recently cleared, Toy said.

“Once the conditions of the contract have been met, including the developer gaining resource and building consents, it would become unconditional.”

Kāinga Ora's development site on Victoria St. Photo / Andrew Warner

The developer had not submitted any of the consents, given the early stage of planning, Toy said.

“As with any commercial contract of this nature, there is always potential for it not to progress.”

He said the design and build contract was between the developer and Kāinga Ora only and there were no other parties involved.

He said the agency was working closely with the developer as they explore design and building options, and would continue to keep people up to date on progress.

“We’re always exploring ways to bring on more homes for whānau most in need in Rotorua, and continue to work with developers and other land owners, as well as redeveloping our own existing older properties.”

According to Ministry of Social Development data, there are 897 applicants on the housing register - the number of people applications waiting for public housing - in the city.

Most of the need was for one or two-bedroom homes: 429 applicants needed a one-bedroom home and 300 were after a two-bedroom home.

A neighbour, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of her job, said the end result might “not be good,” depending on how it was managed.

She said she was “worried” the “street might get a bad look”, but said it was too early to speculate.

She said she had been given a letter saying a resource consent application was yet to be put in, but it did not have details like how many homes could be built.

Rotorua Lakes Council deputy chief executive district development Jean-Paul Gaston confirmed no resource or building consent applications had been received by the council yet.

He said Rotorua had a significant housing shortage and needed housing of all types, including public housing, so if the project went ahead it would contribute to addressing that need.

Around 500 public and supported housing homes in Rotorua are under construction, or in feasibility and planning; the larger ones include 42 homes at Quartz Ave, which are due for completion, and 37 homes at Ranolf St and Malfroy Rd, of which 25 are completed and the others in progress, a spokeswoman said.

In May, eight new houses officially become part of Rotorua’s public housing offerings after a building programme on Roger St was completed.

The new homes, which have two, three or four bedrooms, are part of 60 new houses under construction in the Pukehangi area by Kāinga Ora.

Cira Olivier is a social issues and breaking news reporter for NZME Bay of Plenty. She has been a journalist since 2019.