Whanganui council seeks partners for central city hotel development

Wakefield Chambers is the likely site for a hotel development. Photo / Mike Tweed

Whanganui District Council is looking for developers and operators to deliver a hotel in the central city, 18 months after scrapping plans to build one itself.

A council listing on the Government Electronic Tenders Service (GETS) website said it was inviting expressions of interest (EOI) and Whanganui was “growing fast”.

“Strong visitor numbers, major public investment and a thriving creative economy have created clear demand for modern 4-star accommodation,” it said.

“Council is seeking partners with the vision and capability to develop a design-led, commercially viable hotel that reflects Whanganui’s Unesco City of Design status and activates the city centre.”

In the lead-up to last year’s 2024-2034 long-term plan, the council proposed investing $55 million in a hotel and multi-storey carpark project but that was scrapped following public consultation.

Whanganui Mayor Andrew Tripe said the council’s role now was “as an enabler”.

“We were probably a bit bold before but we pulled back on that and listened to everyone.”

He said a hotel was for more than just visitors, with the city missing out on events and conferences.

“When you think about some of the towns and cities of a similar size around New Zealand, they have one or are getting one. Palmerston North is one example,” he said.

A 4.5-star, 86-room Wyndham Tryp hotel is being developed in Palmerston North’s former central post office building on The Square and will open in December next year.

The council’s GETS listing said it had land available, supportive planning frameworks and the flexibility to work with the right development partner.

Last year, the council bought Wakefield Chambers (45 to 49 Victoria Ave and 51 and 61 Ridgway St) and the Whanganui Furnishers building (33 Victoria Ave through to 36 St Hill St), using city endowment reserves.

Tripe said the likely location for a hotel would be Wakefield Chambers.

“It is an earthquake-prone building, hence why the upper floors have been vacant for some time,” Tripe said.

“For change of use into a hotel, it’s obviously going to require a considerable amount of work.

“I think the important thing is to maintain the facade and work with its heritage features, with the inside adapted for hotel use.”

Tripe said the council was “actively working towards leasing” the Whanganui Furnishers space, which has been empty for several months.

The challenging part of a hotel project was securing a developer, he said.

“Informally, there have been expressions of interest from a number of good operators regarding the lease of that space.

“As we do with any business moving to Whanganui, we [the council] would want to ensure they’re well looked after and make it as easy as possible.

“There’s no fixed approach to that. We need to adapt the incentive model for whoever we’re working with.”

Although the council-led hotel plan was scrapped, $200,000 was included in its 2024-25 budget for a feasibility study.

Council chief strategy officer Sarah O’Hagan said the study was yet to be undertaken, with the EOI process the first step towards completing it.

“The $200,000 has not yet been spent,” she said.

The GETS listing said EOIs close at 4pm on December 9, with shortlisted respondents invited to discussions from February next year.

Mike Tweed is a multimedia journalist at the Whanganui Chronicle. Since starting in March 2020, he has dabbled in everything from sport to music. At present his focus is local government, primarily Whanganui District Council.