Lone Star relocation leads latest Rotorua consent figures

Work on the new Lakesyde development is nearing completion. PHOTO/BEN FRASER

Almost $17 million of commercial building consents have been issued by the Rotorua Lakes Council in the past three months - with more big ones expected in the coming months.

While commercial consents and values were down in October, the three monthly trend from August to October showed the value of commercial consents was up 67 per cent from $10 million in 2015 to $16.8 million in 2016.

In October, just one major commercial consent was issued - a $900,000 consent for the internal fitout of the Lone Star Restaurant which is part of the new Lakesyde development on Whakaue St.

Andy Allan from Lone Star said he expected the restaurant to open in its new site early next year. He said it was good to have the consent finalised so they could "crack on".

He said the restaurant was moving from its current Arawa St site to be closer to Eat Streat.

The value of residential consents was up by about 12 per cent last month, with 69 issued worth $5.4 million compared to 84 worth $4.8 million last year.

Rotorua Chamber of Commerce chief executive Darrin Walsh said the October drop was a little concerning but it was likely to be a blip.

He said commercial consents were often "quite chunky" and it only needed one or two big consents to really change the statistics.

Mr Walsh said there were several big projects such as Pukeroa Oruawhata's $20 million redevelopment of Trade Central and Te Arawa Lakes Trust's proposed $6 million office block which had recently been announced but hadn't yet been through the consent phase.

He said a real concern was making sure sections became available soon to sustain growth.

"We are told they are coming. Once they come to market it will take off and consents will skyrocket."