$205m plan for Alexandra Park

The $205 million development proposes to build 231 apartments on the carpark at the Alexandra Park stadium/raceway.

Trotting club backs project near junction of Greenlane West and Manukau Rd.

An Auckland community leader has questioned a new $205.4 million urban village at Greenlane, saying it will be built near one of the city's worst traffic choke points.

Peter Haynes, the Albert-Eden Local Board chairman, said the proposed development on Alexandra Park's carpark could worsen congestion.

Dominique Dowding, park chief executive, yesterday announced that an Auckland Trotting Club special general meeting had approved the project near the intersection of Greenlane West and Manukau Rd.

The club would retain ownership of nearly half a hectare of retail space but sell 231 apartments. Most of the consented project's cost would be borrowed up front, she said.

But Mr Haynes said the intersection was already stressed.

"Traffic is a big issue. There's a potential for serious problems for traffic and parking.

"It may be that people will live and work on site but clearly if you have a large number of apartments and people travelling to work in the busy peak hours, it's going to make that intersection much, much more of a problem," he said.

Ms Dowding predicted apartments would sell from $550,000 to more than $2.8 million for a penthouse and the new shopping centre would be on the ground floor.

Ms Dowding indicated the development decision was taken partly to enable the trotting club to survive.

"Keeping harness racing alive in Auckland for the coming decades is now looking a lot more secure. This latest support from our members caps off what has been a great year for the club - its 125th year, no less," she said.

The development plan was the club's biggest decision and was the key to its long-term viability, she said.

"We're lucky because Alexandra Park is seen as pretty iconic real estate. It's a very central location that's just waiting to be drastically improved.

"We expect the sales process to be hot, with apartments appealing to the likes of empty nesters, young urban professionals, and families seeking the much sought-after double grammar zone.

"What we're trying to achieve here is a really attractive and stylish 21st century urban village with great design, amenities and public spaces in the heart of Epsom.

"Aesthetically it's going to be a huge transformation from the ugly old dust-bowl carpark to a new village with great boutique retail stores and top food and beverage.

"It will be a real lifestyle destination," Dowding said.

The Auckland Racing Club's Ellerslie land alongside the Southern Motorway has also been developed, with new buildings for commercial, hospitality and medical services.

Last year, Alexandra Park's club president, Kerry Hoggard, revealed $110 million development plans.

The club had gained resource consent for a development along Greenlane West, but it hoped to slightly alter that and believed the new proposal fitted Government and local government plans for more inner suburb dwellings in Auckland, a Herald article last October said.

Hoggard said racing faced its challenges, but a move like this was aimed at providing revenue away from the club's racing activities.

"And we can use some of that revenue to secure our future racing activities and that money will filter back into the entire harness racing industry," said Hoggard.