Basin hotel ditched but concept up for grabs

There will be no flash hotel built on Whangarei's "jewel in the crown" Town Basin, but Whangarei District Council still wants a developer to put up a multi-storey, first class hotel on land it owns near the area.

In May 2011, the council announced it was talking to developers about a possible four-star, 120-room hotel. At the time, it said the proposed Hundertwasser art centre could be funded by a private/public partnership in tandem with a four-star hotel development at the Town Basin.

WDC group manager district living Paul Dell said the hotel concept had been ruled out for the Town Basin as it would dominate the area. Geotechnical issues, such as piling, would also come into play.

Mr Dell said the initial plan was to build a five- to six-storey hotel on the Riverside Drive/Dent St corner of the Town Basin.

Modelling revealed the hotel would cast a large shadow over the Town Basin, looming over much of the area the council had set aside for a public park around 4pm on an average day in February.

"It will go right across that public area and we don't want people sitting on a summer day in a cold shadow like that. [Such a hotel at the site] would also obscure the view of that jewel in the crown area from parts of the city," Mr Dell said.

He said the council had identified a number of other potential sites for a developer to fund a four to five star hotelcomplex, with the council retaining ownership of the land.

Mr Dell said such a hotel would fit in well with the vision for the Town Basin and would provide a welcome to the city.

With the new harbour bridge taking away about 10,000 vehicle movements a day from the basin and also opening up a cultural/arts/heritage trail, and walking and cycling loop around the area, the hotel would complement those plans and provide top-class accommodation that the city lacked.

"We saw that during the Rugby World Cup none of the teams based themselves here for any length of time because we don't have that sort of high-quality hotel."

Mr Dell said any hotel would also have to include some sort of conference facilities.

The council was exploring options with developers.