1000 new jobs in mall revamp

Palm Beach Plaza centre manager David Hill

A multi-million dollar redevelopment of Papamoa's Palm Beach Plaza will see the size of the shopping complex increase by 50 per cent and provide 1000 jobs for tradespeople.

The Bay of Plenty Times can today reveal the expansion programme will include 6000sq m-plus of retail space, speciality stores and a food court.

Palm Beach Plaza centre manager David Hill said recent retail growth figures combined with the rapid growth of residential developments had given the owners of Palm Beach Plaza, Tinline Properties Ltd, the confidence to start the rebuild earlier than anticipated.

"This upgrade and expansion has been in the planning for over 14 months and has involved a considerable amount of community consultation."

He could not provide an exact cost but confirmed the redevelopment was a multimillion-dollar project. Interest and inquiries from businesses wanting to set up shops had exceeded spaces available, Mr Hill said.

"We have had a whole bunch of really good meetings in Auckland with the national retailers and they are dead keen to come here."

But it was not about trying to replicate Bayfair, he said.

"We are a community centre and the mix of tenants will reflect what the community wants. There is certainly a strong feel coming through that the Bayfair offer is not what we want.

"It works well at Bayfair so why would you want to devalue that offer? We want to add value to the Papamoa community."

Mount Maunganui construction company Watts and Hughes had been employed to oversee the project and given a brief to use local contractors.

"We imagine there will be 1000 people working on-site at the end."

Businesses already established on-site are also planning to expand their floor space in a bid to encourage people to shop locally and invest in the community.

Traditional Butchers owner Doug Jarvis had employed five extra staff over the past 12 months and he anticipated taking on another five when his business moved into its new premises at the plaza.

John's at Palm Beach Plaza Pharmacy managing director Ben Van der Borst said it was looking at enlarging the store and increasing its staff of 16.

Confidence, positivity and momentum had lifted in Papamoa, he said.

Stage one of the revamp is scheduled to start next month with a new entranceway and faades expected to be finished by November.

The upgrade would focus on a total refit of the existing plaza with the grass area behind being covered to allow for new retailers and create a town centre "feel and look", Mr Hill said. The largest retailers currently at the plaza were The Warehouse and Countdown, which would be part of the new development.