Six new apartments under development on Whanganui's Victoria Ave

An artist's impression of the '187 On Victoria' apartment complex. Photo / Supplied

A new apartment development is under way on Victoria Avenue, and despite nothing being built as yet, the six units on offer at '187 on Victoria' are already on the market.

Unsurprisingly, the building is at 187 Victoria Ave and was bought by developers Charlotte and Jim Mackereth at the end of last year.

Charlotte Mackereth, now based in Whanganui, said the building itself had high building standards which would allow them to put six apartments into it without "too many majors".

"It's a very safe and secure building that's been well designed and well made," Charlotte Mackereth said.

"The city seems to be growing, and there's certainly an influx of people from other regions, from Auckland for example.

"There's an ease of access, it's close to Wellington, and of course there's the affordability aspect as well.

"Whanganui is great, and since we've lived here we can't get over the climate, it's just fantastic. It's a very liveable city."

She said that their banking covenants required the sale of two of the apartments before construction could get fully under way.

"The hardest thing is trying to visualise something without it being there, and that's why we got 3D images done.

"We've tried our best to create the story, if you like."

Mackereth said that only local architects and tradespeople would be used when construction did start.

Developer Charlotte Mackereth says that the building has "quite a high NBS". Photo / Supplied

Property Brokers Whanganui is currently selling the apartments, and residential sales consultant Vicky Todd said there had already been an "astounding" amount of inquiries.

"It's interesting, the variation of people that are looking at them," Todd said.

"You've got artists, retirees who just want to lock up and leave, young professionals, all sorts of people. There's definitely a high demand for inner city living.

"The number of people coming here (Whanganui) is just crazy, and it's so noticeable for us. Yes, we are getting an influx from Auckland, but it's from everywhere, really.

"People have found out about our beautiful little piece of the world of which I've always been very biased about."

Fellow Property Brokers consultant Craig Hanford said that Whanganui currently had a "really dire shortage of houses", and there was a lot of empty space above shops in the centre of the city that had the potential to be turned into apartments.

"I think that if you can use all of these buildings, not just their shop fronts, then it's worth doing them up," Hanford said.

"One of the biggest growth areas in New Zealand is one person homes, it's not just married couples anymore.

"They don't need that 100 square metre house on the 1000 square metre section."

People were beginning to buy and refurbish houses the central city as well, Hanford said, properties which for a long time were rentals.

"Bridgewater (Quay Apartments) has already been such a huge success, and if we can make this one work then I think that people will see apartment living as a viable option.

"There's a lot of positivity in Whanganui at the moment, and with all the things going on, like the port redevelopment and the Sarjeant, the whole place is just going to rock."

Apartments range from 109sq m ($530,000) to 71sq m ($360,000).