Four-storey apartment block planned in central Paihia

Computer-generated image of Rangi Puru Condominiums, which could be built on Paihia's Selwyn Rd. Photo / supplied

A four-storey apartment complex will be built on Paihia's Selwyn Rd if a developer's proposal gets the go-ahead.

Paihia & Bay Invest Ltd is applying for resource consent to construct the mixed-used commercial building, comprising 21 mostly two-bedroom apartments on the three upper levels with two shops on the ground floor and basement parking.

The complex, to be called Rangi Puru Condominiums, will be built on three lots at 30-34 Selwyn Rd, between The Bishop Selwyn Resort and Austria Motel.

One of the three sections is currently vacant while the others have two-storey homes at the rear of the properties with large grassed areas at the front.

The proposal includes an outdoor recreation area with a swimming pool behind the apartment building.

The area is in a commercial zone but a resource consent is required from the Far North District Council because the building is higher, by about 1.5m at the highest point, than the standard 10m permitted in the District Plan.

The building also lacks a canopy sheltering the footpath as required under the council's pedestrian frontage standards.

The developer commissioned a visual assessment report after the council raised concerns that the building could dominate the immediate area.

The report recommended plantings along part of the front wall and adding a dark patterned ''artwork'' to the sides of the building to reduce the visual impact of its size and height.

The design has also been modified to increase the number of car parks in the basement parking area, after council staff identified a shortfall of parking spaces.

Paihia & Bay Invest is owned, according to the Companies Office, by Brennan Sukhdeo of Whangārei and Michael Lane of Auckland.

The complex will be built by Far North firm Henwood Construction.