Hotel, conference centre, museum: $300m Tauranga civic rebuild 'fantastic'

A preliminary artist's impression of what the redeveloped civic centre for Tauranga will look like, with a hotel pictured centre. Image / Supplied

A museum, hotel and a performing arts and conference centre could be built in the heart of Tauranga's CBD as part of a renewed master plan for the civic redevelopment.

And if it's given the green light it could happen within the next 10 years.

The civic redevelopment plans were revealed by Tauranga City Council and its commissioners in a briefing at the University of Waikato yesterday, where about 60 of the city's business and private sector heads gathered.

The plans, that encapsulate the space around Durham St, Hamilton St, The Strand, and Wharf St, are expected to be formally presented at a council meeting on Monday.

Part of the initial masterplans for Tauranga's civic redevelopment. Image / Supplied

The project consists of a new museum or cultural facility, visitor information and citizens advice facility. A civic whare where future council meetings could be held, a performance and conference venue, hotel, library, and enhanced open spaces.

There was also a procession waterfront area, with the prospect for a restaurant or bar on top of some builds.

It has been broken into three different "strategic precinct areas" labelled A (the library, museum and civic whare area), B (the hotel and performing arts and conference centre) and C (waterfront area).

Early estimates suggest the total cost for A and C could reach $270 million to $300m. Figures for B have not been released.

Willis Bond & Co director Wayne Silver said a lot of the spaces would be "complementary and shared areas", with more than just one exclusive use.

"We've got a once in a generation opportunity to really transform the city of Tauranga. We have the chance to build a cluster of buildings that are consistent and feed off each other - where the sum of all the parts is greater than [them individually].

"To have all of them together is an opportunity too important to squander."

A preliminary artist's impression of what the redeveloped civic centre for Tauranga will look like, with a hotel pictured centre. Image / Supplied

Silver said he wanted people to come to the area and stay because it's a place they wanted to be.

"We want it to be an attraction for visitors, a space for locals to be proud of," he said.

"The success of this will not necessarily be how many people will the library draw in. It'll be how many people are drinking coffee in Durham St, or how many people are shopping nearby. It's the wider dispersion of re-energising the CBD."

At 5700sq m, the future library would be the largest building of the project with a possible cafe and bar within its building. The civic whare would cover 1100sq m and was expected to host a debating and hui space which could potentially become home for future council meetings.

Silver said the proposed 6100sq m performing arts venue, with a conference centre below, was a "huge opportunity for regional conferencing".

"Rotorua's the default. Tauranga really doesn't have anything of that scale or capacity to deliver. That would be a real boost to the city."

The performing arts venue was expected to have a skywalk to the hotel, which itself was likely to house 120 rooms.

An artist's impression of what the proposed civic whare will look like, where future council meetings could likely be held. Image / Supplied

The large, open space between most buildings would act as a procession down to the waterfront, where a new wharf would be built.

Silver said if the build was done all together in one go, it meant it could be completed "within a decade". If parts of it were staged, it would result in an additional eight years.

Council chief executive Marty Grenfell told the audience they were being shown the plans early because they were the city's advocates and champions.

"We also believe that as a community collective, you can help bring this thing to life," Grenfell said.

Priority One chief executive Nigel Tutt said the plans were "music to the ears of the private sector".

"The private sector has been really clear in terms of saying they will invest in the city, they just need the council to . . . get people into the city's centre."

Sharp Tudhope partner John Gordon commended the commission for their work and the plans were "fantastic".

Priority One chief executive Nigel Tutt. Photo / NZME

"We need to get on with it. It's in the interests of the business community to have this happen because it will add value to our buildings."

Mainstreet Tauranga spokeswoman and Tuskany chief executive Sally Cooke said the plans were amazing and would "bring heart and soul into our city".

She asked how the commissioners could "protect" the plans politically when it was due to leave at next year's local body elections. Her concerns were echoed throughout the crowd.

Commission chairwoman Anne Tolley said they were working through an exit strategy with the Minister of Local Government to identify and potentially mitigate potential risks.

The commission preferred tackling the project in one go rather than "a pick and mix" of stages because that hadn't worked well in the past, she said.

Tolley implored the crowd to talk about the future plans and encourage enthusiasm for them. She said she anticipated "naysayers" but Tauranga, the fifth largest city in New Zealand, needed this space and "this needs to happen".

Work was also being done to explore alternative funding options such as private funding and Crown funding, she said.

Tauranga City Council commission chairwoman Anne Tolley. Photo / NZME

The new civic redevelopment would replace the existing council building where, in 2014, toxic black mould was discovered, prompting the first floor to be sealed off and two-thirds of the 520 staff being displaced.

From January, the council would move its customer service centre and library from its existing Willow St site into Goddards Shopping Centre. The relocation would take over 17 vacant spaces and was expected to help rejuvenate the CBD.

Part of the Willow St building was knocked down in 2017 and the remainder is due to be demolished from April next year.

Staff still based in the Willow St site - not including the library and customer services teams - were in the process of moving to 306 Cameron Rd, where most of the council workforce was based. Work to add new meeting rooms was expected to start in October.

Eventually, staff would move into a yet-to-be-built office building at 82-98 Devonport Rd.

The existing Tauranga City Council building. Photo / NZME