An artist's impression of a corner view of the planned 170 Cashel St extension of The Crossing in Christchurch. Photo / Supplied
An artist's impression of a corner view of the planned 170 Cashel St extension of The Crossing in Christchurch. Photo / Supplied
The Carter Group has announced plans to expand The Crossing retail and hospitality precinct in the Christchurch CBD following the successful opening of The Crossing's fashion retail stage.
Developer Philip Carter says The Crossing will be extended to 170 Cashel St - a site occupied by a Holiday Inn prior to Canterbury's February 2011 earthquake.
Compared to The Crossing, the new development's footprint will be about a quarter of the size. It will have more than 2000sq m of retail space and space for 12 shops with sites ranging from 70sq m to 400sq m.
"The extension into 170 Cashel Street will consolidate The Crossing's position as the heart of retail in the central city and create a truly outstanding precinct for Christchurch residents," says Carter.
Savills retail leasing agent, Ryan Geddes says the new development will complete the shopping area centred on the Cashel St/High St intersection.
"The new development will include a piazza-style public area in front of the building, extending the existing outdoor space bordered by the Grand Central building, The Crossing and the ANZ Centre.
"This is a highly strategic site with great visibility and good street frontage which shop owners demand.Retailers will continue to cluster around this area and people are already congregating here. It's a great spot to sit in the sun and have a coffee, watch the world go by and admire the new and renovated buildings in The Crossing.
"The H&M store opening last Saturday showed that people are keen to come back to the CBD. We're now seeing the retail precinct growing further down Cashel St towards the East Frame, with fast fashion and higher-end boutiques co-existing in a people-friendly, buzzing environment," says Geddes.
A rear view of The Crossing expansion to 170 Cashel St - artist's concept. Photo / Supplied
Jesse Paenga, retail leasing agent at Savills, says the attraction of the site at 170 Cashel St will be its closeness to The Crossing. He says it will consolidate The Crossing's position as the heart of retail in the central city.
"Since the opening of The Crossing we have been fielding inquiries from national and international retailers who are keen to come here. This week we took three international retailers to The Crossing to show them the transformation that has taken place in the past few months. They were blown away by what they saw. These retailers are just a few of many who were not really interested in coming to Christchurch post-earthquake, but are now seriously looking at spaces in the new development at 170 Cashel St."
Carter says his plan has always been to build world-class retail and hospitality precincts in Christchurch that will attract national and international brands to the central city.
"Now we can build upon the success we've had attracting major fashion brands to The Crossing. Our tenants have been incredibly complimentary about the outstanding architectural features we have incorporated into the build, including an eclectic mix of contemporary buildings, connected by internal laneways. The same architects, Wilson & Hill, have designed 170 Cashel Street," Carter says.
He says additional local and international retailers will continue to open progressively at The Crossing during the next few months.
"We want to set the benchmark for retail and hospitality in post-earthquake Christchurch. For us, it's all about bringing our community back together," says Carter.
