Plans for a new retail development on the corner of Kennedy Rd and Georges Drive, near the Marewa shopping centre, have been approved by a Napier City Council hearings committee.
The six-tenancy retail complex, including a cafe and 30 car parks, is to be built by Matvin Group on a vacant site previously home to a service station.
A condition of the development is that only "convenience" retail businesses operate from the site.
In a report recommending the project be approved, council staff voiced concerns it could contribute to a trend of declining retail occupancy rates within the nearby central business district unless the convenience store restriction were put in place.
A consultants' report commissioned by Matvin Group argued the new development would have either no effect or a limited impact on existing retailers in the area, and it was not necessary to limit the types of retail businesses at the proposed site.
