$65m four-block Remuera apartment project planned for village centre: 52 units, 90 carparks

Plans for the four-block project. Photo / Clonbern Garden

A $65 million 52-unit residential project in Remuera's heart is planned by a business which established sales suites on the main shopping strip.

Clonbern Garden is opposite the New World supermarket at 5, 7 and 9 Clonbern Rd. The bare site is owned by NZ Fountain Centre Development whose sole director is Tongyu Li of Victoria Ave, Remuera.

A showroom to market the yet-to-begin project is nearby at 390 Remuera Rd. Bayleys agent and former Real Estate Institute chief executive Colleen Milne showed how a finished kitchen would look in the planned units.

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Four blocks are planned on the site, many units looking into a landscaped central courtyard area.

Architect Richard Goldie of Peddle Thorp designed the buildings and a model is in the marketing suite.

Kelvin Zuo, general manager of developer Fountain Group, said a contractor was about to be appointed and negotiations had progressed with Ron McRae's CMP Construction but nothing was finalised yet.

"The approximate overall cost of the finished buildings will be around $65m plus GST, including the land cost, construction cost and consultant fees," Zuo said.

The blocks will have 90 underground carparks in two basement levels and rise to five storeys at their highest point.

Zuo said one-bedroom units started from $900,000, two bedrooms from $1.7m and three bedrooms from more than $2m.

Only a few initial deposits had been paid so far, he said, because the marketing suite was only opened in November. Construction is hoped to begin around May or June and take around 22 months.

Sales so far had been "only to Kiwis" but Fountain Group might apply to the Overseas Investment Office so it could sell to foreigners as well, he said.

The 2018 amendments to the Overseas Investment Act banned foreigners from buying New Zealand residential and lifestyle properties but Zuo said an exemption was being considered.

That clause allows developers of 20 or more units to apply to opt out of the law if they meet certain conditions.