The former Boulevard Motel on Fenton St. Photo / Andrew Warner
The former Boulevard Motel on Fenton St. Photo / Andrew Warner
Up to 70 people will move into new transitional housing accommodation in the coming weeks on Fenton St at the site that was formerly the Boulevard Motel.
The new "village" has been renamed 2six5 on Fenton and features one studio unit, 30 one to three-bedroom "homes" and a five-bedroom standalonehouse.
Invited guests at the opening of 2six5 on Fenton transitional housing village. Photo / Andrew Warner
The site was officially blessed on Thursday morning and families chosen to move into the properties will start to arrive within the next five days.
The 6595sq m (0.66ha) site was bought by Kāinga Ora last year for $8.1 million and since then $3m has been spent renovating the site to bring it up to resource consent standard for long-term housing.
Resource consent was controversially granted by the Rotorua Lakes Council without public consultation.
The former Boulevard Motel on Fenton St. Photo / Andrew Warner
2six5 on Fenton is owned by Kāinga Ora and the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development has contracted Wera Aotearoa Charitable Trust to provide transitional housing and wraparound services.
The ministry's website said those in transitional housing paid rent of up to 25 per cent of their income. The rest of the costs are paid for by the ministry.
The $3m spend has gone towards making the property more suitable for families with the former 37 units reduced to 31 larger properties providing bigger living and kitchen areas and more space.
The outside of 2six5 on Fenton. Photo / Andrew Warner
The upgrade has included making one of the properties fully accessible and work to install a hard-wired fire alarm system with heat detectors and fire walls installations.
Extra wall and floor insulation has been added, new curtains, some carpet replacement, kitchen and bathroom ventilation and extraction systems installation, whiteware and cooking appliances.
All spa baths and spas have been removed, the swimming pool covered up, and overgrown vegetation and some trees removed.
There is a fenced children's play area, games room, shared laundry room, administration block and commercial kitchen and cafe area.
Kāinga Ora supported housing director Karla Fisher (left) and Wera Aotearoa Charitable Trust housing operations manager Toli Maka inside one of the new properties. Photo / Andrew Warner
Kāinga Ora supported housing director Karla Fisher said a lot of work had been done to transform the motel units into something people could call homes.
She said they were about embracing independence and didn't see it as a motel or living in units and instead referred to it as a village.
"There is space for people to live and be together as a whānau."
Wera Aotearoa Charitable Trust housing operations manager Toli Maka and Kāinga Ora supported housing director Karla Fisher at the 2six5 on Fenton playground. Photo / Andrew Warner
Wera Aotearoa Charitable Trust housing operations manager Toli Maka said transitional housing was different to emergency housing as it was about "embracing whānau" and setting them on a pathway of independence to eventually transition into permanent housing.
It was estimated those staying in transitional housing would be there for about 12 weeks before going into public or social housing or private rentals.
Maka said while in transitional housing they would learn to become more independent and were expected to maintain and clean their properties themselves, unlike emergency housing which often had cleaners.
Wera will have staff working from the site and will provide social services including ready to rent and budgeting courses.
Transitional housing facility 2six5 on Fenton has opened where the Boulevard Motel used to be. Photo / Andrew Warner
She said there would be no 24/7 security, only after-hours security as transitional housing offered greater independence. There were also no strict rules like at other contracted emergency housing motels and she said they welcomed visitors and having people stay as long as it was within their resource consent.
When asked if gang members would be allowed to move into 2six5 on Fenton, Maka said they were not able to discriminate against gang members but she said she would ensure it would be a safe environment.
She said it was a "dry facility" meaning no illicit drugs would be allowed on site but those living there could drink alcohol like they would at any other home as it was their "human right".
Maka said all those moving into 2six5 on Fenton had been chosen and the selection process was based on those most in need and done by Te Pokapū The Hub.
She said all of those chosen were from Rotorua and personal factors such as schools, whānau and community links were taken into account.
Kāinga Ora has previously said it was its intention to use the land in later years to redevelop it further for mixed public housing but a spokesperson said a timeframe was not yet known.
