LASER Strike, a 7D cinema, bowling alley, service station, supermarket and a range of other retail experiences will make up an all-weather entertainment and retail centre planned for Te Ngae Rd.
Work on the development, to be known as Lynmore Junction, is planned to be finished early 2016 and willincorporate a major new facility to be known as "Zone Play Rotorua".
Zone Play will include a range of entertainment features such as 7D cinema, ten-pin bowling, trampoline parks, laser strike and other similar activities of an international standard.
An artist's impression.
The entertainment offering will be supported by a range of retail and takeaway food experiences.
The development, on the old Sealed Air site on Te Ngae Rd, is being undertaken by Rotorua's Holmes Group.
Director Ryan Holmes said stage one would incorporate Zone Play Rotorua, a service station and a fast food/drive-through operation.
Stage two will immediately follow and will include convenience retail and a supermarket.
Mr Holmes said the company had been considering a development on the site for some time, but wanted to wait until it was able to secure the most appropriate uses for the site.
The company has engaged retail and commercial development specialists RCG Ltd to drive the development.
Mr Holmes said interest from leisure, entertainment and retail companies had been high and he expected to have most of the site leased out by next March.
"It is apparent that Rotorua lacks depth in true entertainment facilities to cater for the city's local and visitor markets. Zone Play Rotorua will fill that need."
Mr Holmes said the site provided a high level of traffic exposure and had the ability to draw not only from Rotorua visitors but also from Tauranga, Whakatane and Taupo, with easy access to the site from all directions.
"Ample free parking and sheltered shop fronts, together with energetic and playful architecture and graphics, will make this a quality, all-weather, family-friendly centre.
"We are very excited about this development and the opportunity it brings to Rotorua," Mr Holmes said.
DEVELOPER: Ryan Holmes.
RCG director Desmond Wai said his company, in collaboration with Paul Sanford of NAI Harcourts Rotorua, had spent the past four months in discussion with potential tenants, exploring the most appropriate uses.
"We have been very focused as to the type of leisure and retail activity that we are seeking and we are determined to make this as successful as other developments we have been involved with in the Bay of Plenty," Mr Wai said.
"Prior to the development commencing, further details will be released as to the list of entertainment operators and retailers who would likely occupy the Zone Play Rotorua development.
"However, there will be a careful mix of retail additional to the entertainment and leisure category, to satisfy demand, particularly in food retailing."
