Roa Development Ltd chief executive Mike Saegers announced on his personal Linkedin page on Tuesday that the resource consent process had begun for a new healthcare district proposed for Three Parks, after an 18-month planning process.
"We took a punt about 18 months ago when we started master-planning our health district, using the same design thinking as Aspiring House, believing it was a case of when, not if, Wānaka would be ready for high quality developments at this scale.
"Yesterday, we commenced the process to submit our health district for resource consent," he said on Linkedin.
Aspiring House is Roa Property Ltd’s newly-consented, commercial mixed-business use building destined for the corner of Sir Tim Wallis Drive and Deering St.
The four-storey, 19.35m high structure would be Wānaka’s tallest building when completed.
Consent for Aspiring House was also announced on Tuesday in a media statement.
When contacted by Wānaka Sun on Wednesday, Mr Saegers said he could not provide further details about the health precinct at this time .
However, in his earlier Linkedin post, he said the healthcare proposal and Aspiring House would be "over the road" from each other.
Mr Saegers also said the healthcare proposal would use the same construction methodologies and similar building heights to Aspiring House, which has been designed by Warren and Mahoney architects to achieve a southern hemisphere first in zero carbon certification (International Future Living Institute Zero Carbon Certification).
Mr Saegers said winning consent for what would be the tallest office building in Wānaka was a "huge milestone".
"I believe it will have the strongest sustainability credentials of any building in the South Island.
"We’re delighted to be moving forward with this landmark building, particularly given what it means for our health district project across the road from Aspiring House.
"Wānaka’s commercial and business zones are quite restrictive so to achieve consent for a building height that’s more than 60% higher than current zoning allows is significant.
"Importantly, this was achieved through careful and thoughtful design acknowledged as enriching the overall character of the environment," he said on Linkedin.
Mr Saegers said the council consent decision was an important step forward for Roa and the community, as it clarified the council’s appetite for tall developments.
On March 14, retired farmers Peter and Dee Gordon officially announced through their spokesman and son-in-law James Reid that they had applied for consents for a new health hub on land they own on the corner of Cardrona Valley Rd and Avalon Station Dr.
This was next to the Wānaka Lakes Health Centre that was built on former Gordon farm land and opened in 2011.
Mr Reid outlined the proposal in front of 400 people who had crowded into the Lake Wānaka Centre to learn more from a panel of health experts about Upper Clutha primary healthcare concerns.
After Mr Reid’s announcement, the forum facilitator Simon Telfer, also chairman of the Wānaka-Upper Clutha Community Board, said he understood there would be another "substantial announcement" within the next month about a health precinct in Three Parks.
Meanwhile, Metlifecare is set to begin building Wānaka’s newest premium aged-care facility for up to 150 residents at Three Parks, next to the Wānaka Golf Course.
Queenstown Lakes District Council independent commissioner Wendy Baker granted non-notified consent in December for Metlife’s $200million investment.
Metlifecare Wānaka will build 93 independent villas and a 30-suite aged-care home on a 5.4ha site between the Wānaka Golf Course and the New World Supermarket.
