A development group wants to build a nine-storey international hotel on 21 Durham St. Image / Supplied
A development group wants to build a nine-storey international hotel on 21 Durham St. Image / Supplied
A decision on the next steps for council land eyed by a hotelier will wait two weeks after a debate yesterdayladen with icecream and Lego block metaphors.
The council voted to revisit the future of 21-41 Durham St on September 17.
Staff had recommended starting a feasibility study into usingthe land for new council offices, potentially with a ground-floor bus interchange.
Wayne Silver, director of the council's civic heart development partner, Willis Bond and Co, said construction costs for the project had probably escalated 30 to 40 per cent in the past four years, and rising.
It was important to give the council's staff - which have been split between three buildings for five years - a permanent home.
"Until an organisation feels like it's at home I think it's hard for it to deliver the services its constituents expect."
But after the Bay of Plenty Times made public news a development group wanted to buy 21 Durham St and build a nine-storey international hotel, some councillors wanted to look at hotel options for the land.
Others wanted to review how the whole "civic campus" - a block of CBD land the council owns from Durham St to Willow St - could be used for various public and private developments, rearranging buildings like Lego blocks.
Councillors John Robson and Steve Morris said the council had kept the blocks out for five or six years and needed to set the direction this triennium.
Tauranga City Councillor John Robson. Photo / File
"I don't see a lot of value in passing the same blocks to potentially a new group of people who may need to go through the same process," Robson said.
The council owed it to its staff not to delay a decision on a permanent home for staff any longer. A new council could take a year to get to grips with the issue and make a decision.
Morris said he would not want to be stuck behind the council at Copenhagen Cones - a Mount Maunganui icecream shop - as it changed its mind about what flavour to order.
Tauranga City Councillor Steve Morris. Photo / File
Councillor Larry Baldock said the bold decision-making Morris promoted would have been welcome 18 months ago when the council was voting on funding and timing of civic heart projects.
The council had a lot of information and just needed a bit more.
"We are not going back five years with our blocks."
Tauranga City Councillor Larry Baldock. Photo / File
Councillor Bill Grainger said the council had to "get it right".
"I don't give a damn how many times we have to play with our blocks.
"Imagine ordering a hokey pokey and ending up getting a double raspberry."
Tauranga City Councillor Bill Grainger. Photo / File
After a vote to fund the feasibility study failed, the council voted to let the issue sit. Cost estimates for the study were confidential pending negotiations with Willis Bond and Co.
Growth and strategy manager Christine Jones said staff would come up with some different options for the scope of the study.
After the meeting, Bayleys real estate agent Jim McKinlay, who represents the hotel development group, said he was pleased the decision was deferred.
"If you are going to spend that much money on a study it should be on the right scheme.
"This gives the council time to reconsider its key deliverables and put a four-and-a-half star hotel back on the table."
