685 days ago

First stage of Ngāi Tahu's new Queenstown housing development complete

Nicole Mathewson Reporter from Otago News

From reporter Debbie Jamieson:

The first apartment block in Ngāi Tahu Property’s 350-home Queenstown development Te Pā Tāhuna is complete.

The name “Takiwai” was bestowed on the building at a dawn ceremony on Thursday morning.

Ngāi Tahu Property general manager Blair Forgie said the development would help increase the housing supply in Tāhuna Queenstown.

Queenstown is in the midst of a housing crisis that is forcing much-needed workers to leave town or sleep in cars or at backpackers because they cannot find anywhere to live.

The Takiwai building consisted of 27 apartments, of which 10 were sold as part of the KiwiBuild programme, Forgie said.

At the time of sale, the KiwiBuild properties cost no more than $600,000.

The residential apartments sold in the open market were below $800,000.

They were a mix of one-bedroom and two-bedroom apartments.

The median sale price for a house in the Queenstown Lakes District in December was $1.2 million, according to the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand.

All the residential apartments had sold while four live-work apartments that combined residential and non-residential uses were still available and ranged in price from $850,000 to $975,000.

Roading and services infrastructure for the overall Te Pā Tāhuna development was nearing completion and the next stage of the construction was due to begin later this year.

It would have 66 apartments and was expected to be completed mid-2025.

The development is built on the former Wakatipu High School site in Gorge Rd, a short walk from central Queenstown.


Takiwai is a translucent variety of greenstone, olive-green with streaks of white – found at Piopiotahi (Milford Sound) and Te Wai Pounamu.

Takiwai is favoured as a softer type of pounamu as it is easier to make into a finer quality product.

In March 2019, then Minister of Housing and Urban Development Phil Twyford announced the old high school land would be redeveloped to address help Queenstown’s housing shortage.

In October that year, Minister of Housing Megan Woods announced the development agreement for the Tāhuna Development had been signed off.

The complete development would have more than 350 homes including 100-plus KiwiBuild apartments for first home buyers.

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More messages from your neighbours
15 days ago

⚠️ DOGS DIE IN HOT CARS. If you love them, don't leave them. ⚠️

The Team from SPCA New Zealand

It's a message we share time and time again, and this year, we're calling on you to help us spread that message further.
Did you know that calls to SPCA about dogs left inside hot cars made up a whopping 11% of all welfare calls last summer? This is a completely preventable issue, and one which is causing hundreds of dogs (often loved pets) to suffer.
Here are some quick facts to share with the dog owners in your life:

👉 The temperature inside a car can heat to over 50°C in less than 15 minutes.
👉 Parking in the shade and cracking windows does little to help on a warm day. Dogs rely on panting to keep cool, which they can't do in a hot car.
👉 This puts dogs at a high risk of heatstroke - a serious condition for dogs, with a mortality rate between 39%-50%.
👉 It is an offence under the Animal Welfare Act to leave a dog in a hot vehicle if they are showing signs of heat stress. You can be fined, and prosecuted.
SPCA has created downloadable resources to help you spread the message even further. Posters, a flyer, and a social media tile can be downloaded from our website here: www.spca.nz...
We encourage you to use these - and ask your local businesses to display the posters if they can. Flyers can be kept in your car and handed out as needed.
This is a community problem, and one we cannot solve alone. Help us to prevent more tragedies this summer by sharing this post.
On behalf of the animals - thank you ❤️

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7 days ago

Poll: Would you rather: Christmas in summer forever or winter forever?

The Team from Neighbourly.co.nz

Just a bit of a fun poll to get you thinking.

If you had to live out your Christmas days, would you prefer it was a summer Christmas or a winter Christmas?

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Would you rather: Christmas in summer forever or winter forever?
  • 61.9% Summer
    61.9% Complete
  • 36.6% Winter
    36.6% Complete
  • 1.5% Other - I'll share below
    1.5% Complete
1459 votes
3 days ago

Worst Xmas ever?

The Team from Neighbourly.co.nz

There's a a lot of planning that goes into Christmas day and sometimes things just don't go to plan. But it can be a good thing - a family mishap or hilarious memory that you can laugh about in Christmases to come.

Whether you burnt the dinner or were stranded at an airport...

Share your Christmas mishaps below!

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