This new section of the Hatea Loop borders a site ripe for a high end hotel, say its owners. Photo / John Stone
A 12,000-square metre piece of Whangarei's waterfront will be marketed to overseas buyers, with the completion of a public walkway running along the seaside perimeter of the site.
Ian Moratti, whose company Golden Kiwi Holdings had owned 44 to 48 Riverside Dr freehold since June 2013, said he had spent
13 years buying up leases on the properties and the time had come to sell. Mr Moratti's original vision had been a hotel and luxury apartment complex with up to 200 units on the site, currently occupied by a number of marine industry businesses.
The Hundertwasser Art Centre project was looking more and more likely to proceed, reaching 63 per cent of its $16.25 million funding goal after the announcement of a $4 million Government contribution. Mr Moratti said this, along with other Whangarei attractions, would form part of the marketing campaign.
"We still think it lends itself to a four to five-star hotel. It would go together with the Hundertwasser, which needs a classy hotel and we haven't got any," he said.
A previous deal with Auckland property developer Andrew Fonagy, who said he would look at investing in the site if the Hundertwasser Art Centre went ahead, had since fallen through.
