Rotorua jobs: Up to 70 positions at new Carl's Jr

Fast food restaurant Carl's Jr has applied for building consent to build a restaurant on Rotorua's Amohau St next to McDonald's.

If the restaurant gets the green light, it would create up to 70 new jobs.

Rotorua District Council team leader of resource consents Portia McKenzie said the council received an application for building consent last week for a Carl's Jr to be built at 1138 Amohau St.

Carl's Jr is an American fast food restaurant chain. Its first restaurant in New Zealand opened in 2011. There are now seven restaurants in Auckland with one opening this week on Queen St. There is a also a Carl's Jr restaurant in Palmerston North. Over time the company expected to have between 35 and 60 Carl's Jr restaurants around the country. Each of the stores employs between 60 and 70 people.

Pukeroa Oruawhata owns the site and The Mill liquor store which was previously on the site has been demolished.

Mrs McKenzie said Carl's Jr had applied for building consent to construct a restaurant and associated signage.

The building consent includes a 4 metre by 13 metre building and 26 car parks and is understood to have a drive-through. Mrs McKenzie was unable to say how many the restaurant could seat as that was information included in a resource consent application which the council was yet to receive.

However, the resource consent application would not need to be publicly notified as the area was in a commercial zone, she said.

The restaurant is owned by Restaurant Brands and general manager of Carl's Jr for Restaurant Brands, Craig Neal, confirmed an application for a building consent had been lodged.

However, he said there was a significant consent and approvals process to get through before any plans for a restaurant were finalised.

"At this stage, any store location for Rotorua remains a proposal only until applications and various consents are approved. Once the council has granted approval Restaurant Brands chief executive Russel Creedy would then review the proposal and provide final approval for the restaurant to go ahead."

Carl's Jr started advertising positions online this week for their new Rotorua store.

Mr Neal said they had started to advertise for management as they were expecting to open the restaurant between the middle and the end of this year.

"We need to get training under way."

Mr Neal said he didn't know how long getting council approval would take and was not able to comment further.

Another fastfood restaurant Domino's advertised in last Saturday's edition of The Daily Post that it had a site in Rotorua for a new Domino's store and was looking for a franchisee.

Domino's was asked whether the new store would be at the new Redwood Centre but it was not able to comment on where the site was, saying its priority was to find a franchisee.