Residential accommodation had for some time been intended for the middle floor of a prominent three-storey heritage building in Dunedin’s waterfront area, its owner says.
However, this taking the form of 30 units for social housing, due to be completed next year, was not always a given.
The genesis for that was in 2019, when a mayoral task force for housing was prominent, New Zealand Loan and Mercantile Building owner Russell Lund said.
Mr Lund attended a forum and saw a presentation by the Salvation Army about how the community housing sector worked.
He contacted its social housing national director, Greg Foster.
"Then it all flowed from there," Mr Lund said.
The Salvation Army was initially not sure about the Thomas Burns St site, but soon came on board, and the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development "loved it", Mr Lund said.
The 30 apartments for low-income tenants, including 28 one-bedroom units, could be finished by the end of next year.
Thirteen private apartments on the floor above were also near completion, Mr Lund said.
Rates relief will apply to the portion of the project that is about social housing.
The project was complicated, but redeveloping the middle floor had gone comparatively smoothly.
Back in 2019, about 120 people attended a housing summit in Dunedin.
Mayoral task force chairman at the time Cr Aaron Hawkins told the summit it was the city’s most vulnerable residents who were most affected by pressures on the housing market.
The task force’s final report said Dunedin was on the verge of a housing crisis.
In 2021, Dunedin City Council city development manager Anna Johnson said reducing an acute shortfall of social housing and catering better for households of one or two people were among the aims of district plan rule changes.
Salvation Army Dunedin corps officer David McEwen said last week the need for social housing was growing.
A social housing register in Dunedin had more than 400 people on it, he said.
Mr McEwen said the Loan and Mercantile units would free up space for transitional housing and emergency housing.
Dunedin Mayor Jules Radich said two homeless people had recently talked to him about the need for more accommodation.
Any shift in supply created a flow-on effect.
"The more housing we have available, the better off we will be, to provide a home for everyone."
