TOP STORY: $130m apartment bonanza

Mount Maunganui is entering a new growth spurt with several hundred apartments worth a total of $130 million being built over the next 12 months.
Nine projects are being marketed this summer and two-thirds of the apartments have already been sold.
The complexes will add 220 apartments and numerous ground-floor shops to the bustling downtown Mount area.
They will provide a mix of permanent living and visitor accommodation and range in size from 76sq m to 300sq m. They are selling from $400,000 to $3 million.
The fresh apartment-building boom comes after a lull of nearly two years.
The developments are mainly along Maunganui Rd, from the high-rise belt near Main Beach to Blake Park.
The 34-unit Atlas Suites and Apartments and the 39-apartment Algarve are already under construction.
This popular northern end of Mount Maunganui has been pencilled in for urban intensification under the SmartGrowth strategy but the developers have beaten the planners to the punch.
Harcourts Tauranga and Mount Maunganui sales manager Simon Martin said developers had to pay more for land but the increase in property values made the projects viable. "It all goes in cycles."
Developer Bain McDonald, who is behind three of the nine projects, said people who believed the Mount should never change would not like the new developments.
"But, like it or not, the demand is there and development will happen. Inevitably the projects will change the appearance of the Mount but, because of the height restrictions, it won't be too drastic.
"The developments are spurring the renewal of other property - you see it along Marine Parade where people have realised the value of renovating their homes," Mr McDonald said.
Harcourts Mount Maunganui is marketing five of the nine projects and Mr Martin said his firm had a waiting list of people wanting to buy apartments.
He said 65 per cent of the buyers were from out of town, mainly Auckland, Waikato and other parts of the Bay.
The biggest new projects are the $23 million, 55-apartment Mount Central Resort at 424-428 Maunganui Rd, and the $20 million, six level Cayman Apartments (30 large units) in the high-rise stretch at 29-31 Maunganui Rd, beside The Atrium.
The four-level Mount Central Resort, a managed complex with swimming pool, gym, spa, sauna and underground parking, was released to the market last week - 33 buyers signed up within two days.
The apartment sizes ranged from 76sq m to 135sq m including balconies and the prices from $340,000 to $600,000.
Most of the Cayman apartments, which are intended for permanent living, are under contract. They fetched prices from $465,00 to more than $1 million for 113sq m and 258sq m units, including balconies.
Three smaller but high-priced complexes are nearly sold out.
The $5 million Palm Cove Terraces, beside The Algarve on the corner of Tawa St and Maunganui Rd, has eight large apartments. Six are under contract. There will be three shops on the ground level.
The $15 million Sonrisa, at 15-16 The Mall, overlooking Pilot Bay features eight luxury apartments priced from $1.8 million to $3.5 million - half are sold.
At 50 Marine Parade, six Tsunami Apartments are being built on land sold for $4 million. Four are sold, including the penthouse for $3.2 million.
A big retail, office and apartment development is planed for the old Customhouse site on the corner of Rata St and Maunganui Rd.
And when Mr McDonald completes the $9 million Atlas and $16 million Algarve including eight shops, he will move to 277 Maunganui Rd and build the $15 million Moorings with 30 apartments and four more street-level shops.
Only 16 of his 103 new apartments are unsold - two small studio units in Atlas have changed hands before completion for $255,000 and $375,000.