Economic development lead Tim Easton says a new hotel will lift spend across Whanganui's CBD. Photo / NZME
A plan to bring a four-star hotel to central Whanganui is gathering pace, with “an encouraging mix” of parties showing interest.
In November, Whanganui District Council invited expressions of interest (EOI) from developers, investors and hotel operators through the Government Electronic Tenders Service website, with a deadline of December 9.
Whanganui & Partners economic development lead Tim Easton said 10 formal EOIs were received, with another three parties indicating an intention to collaborate or participate in future stages.
“The feedback has been highly constructive,” Easton said.
“Respondents consistently recognised the clear market gap for higher-quality hotel accommodation in Whanganui, as well as the city’s growing visitor economy and investment momentum.”
Whanganui & Partners is the council’s economic development agency.
Easton said respondents also highlighted commercial viability and risk-return considerations as key issues to resolve.
In 2024, the council scrapped a proposal to lead a $55 million hotel and carpark project, following public consultation on its 2024-2034 long-term plan.
Funding for that project would have come from ratepayers.
However, the council budgeted $200,000 for a hotel feasibility study.
Easton said the EOIs had “a broad and encouraging mix” of operators, developers, investors, contractors and landowners.
“Council intends to engage directly with respondents in the coming months.”
Feasibility work would now move into a more detailed market-led collaboration phase, he said.
“This includes refining potential hotel scale, location and typology, testing delivery and ownership models, and understanding what role council can play in supporting viability, whether through land, facilitation or enabling infrastructure.
“The objective remains clear – to support the delivery of a high-quality, commercially viable hotel that fits Whanganui’s city centre, visitor economy and Unesco City of Design positioning.”
In November, Whanganui Mayor Andrew Tripe said the council-owned Wakefield Chambers, on the corner of Victoria Ave and Ridgway St, was “a likely location for a hotel”.
The council bought the property from the Whanganui Port in 2024 for $816,000.
Easton said this week Wakefield Chambers was not the only option.
“People who own buildings in the CBD may want to retrofit them into a hotel or there could be vacant land for a new-build hotel ... [the] council has buildings that would be useful, Wakefield Chambers is obviously one, but there are others in the property portfolio as well.”
The council also had vacant CBD land which was primarily used for car parking.
“We will let the market decide, depending on what’s commercially viable.”
Tripe told the Chronicle this week the EOI process showed there was “genuine interest” in the project.
The case for a new hotel was growing stronger year-on-year, he said.
“We’ve got so many reasons for different types of visitors to come to Whanganui now, whether it’s business, international or domestic ... [the] council is obviously very keen to see this happen to increase economic activity but we’ll not be involved in developing a hotel.
“This [EOI] process was about drumming up some interest from those that might develop or operate down the track.”
Easton said of 67 territorial authorities, Whanganui had the ninth-highest tourism expenditure growth in New Zealand year-on-year to September 2025.
“Almost half of those experienced flat or negative growth.
“Over the same period, guest nights in Whanganui grew by 10%, compared with 1.7% nationally.
“The missing piece is a modern, high-quality hotel accommodation in the CBD, close to our cultural institutions, events, hospitality and riverfront.”
He said a hotel was “enabling infrastructure”, supporting higher-value visitors, business travel, conferences and events, lifting spend across the CBD economy and increasing Whanganui’s gross domestic product (GDP).
Tripe said “regional centres are on the up” and work was about to start on a hotel development in Masterton.
Trevor Pearce, who developed the White Swan Hotel in Greytown, will convert the town’s post office building into a 40-room hotel.
“There is definitely room for us in Whanganui to have a facility,” Tripe said.
“Now, it’s about having a process in place to make sure it happens.”
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.