Retirement village steps up building

Builders are now constructing two villas at a time as they push on to develop one of the Bay's biggest retirement villages at Papamoa.
The first owners have moved into the $110 million Pacific Coast Village on Papamoa Beach Rd, and seven modern villas will soon be completed.
Peter Cross, chief executive of the village operator Retirement Assets, said the interest was increasing - they  had expressions of interest from 350 couples but some  would not make a commitment for another 18 months to two years.
"It's a big decision to move into a retirement village," he said.
Mr Cross  added: "We will keep building as they sell. As we finish two villas, we will start another two - and we can also double the construction if we need to. But we want to roll on now in an orderly fashion."
Retirement Assets is planning to build 85 villas and 162 apartments on the 8ha  site in partnership with Nga Potiki-backed Mangatawa Papamoa Block Inc.
Kevin Haua, chairman and trustee of the Mangatawa partnership board, told guests at the recent opening of the village: "The important thing is we retained ownership of the land. We have been bombarded with offers to build a subdivision and put houses on them.
"They say we split the profit and we say goodbye to our ancestral land. We showed them the door," he said.
Retirement Assets is building the village and leasing 8ha of land on the 48ha Mangatawa block, the largest development site remaining on the Mount Maunganui/Papamoa coastal strip.
The names of the streets in the village come from the 12 hapu within Nga Potiki. And the Mangatawa Marae on the nearby hills lines up with the village entrance to maintain the view shaft.
Mr Cross said the $6-7 million community centre in the village should be started later next year once 30 villas were built and sold.
By then, the first two-level apartment building (with 12 units), near the entrance on the corner of Mangatawa Boulevard and Te Akau Drive, should be under way. There will be seven, two to three-level apartment buildings in the middle of the village  spread around the community centre.
The two-level, 3250sq m centre will include a bowling green (outdoor), restaurant and bar, residents' lounge,  library, 60-seat cinema, indoor  pool and spa, health and beauty salon.
There will also be a 25-bed aged-care facility, with on-call nursing services.
Mr Cross said it would take about five years to complete the village, which has a beach resort theme and is funded by Kiwibank.
The villas, ranging in size from 110-180sq m, are selling in the late $400,000s to early $600,000s, and the apartments, of about 100sq m, will be priced between $495,000 and $530,000.