Dunedin is set for more major construction after ACC yesterday confirmed it was still planning a new building for the 500 staff it wants to have in the city.
The organisation expects to be able to announce a preferred site within months.
ACC chief executive Scott Pickering, in Dunedin to open a leased building to be used in the interim, on the corner of High and Princes Sts, said the organisation was planning a state-of-the-art, eco-friendly building, perhaps built in partnership.
ACC was occupying five floors of the building, which had capacity for 148 employees.
He hoped to get ACC building work started as soon as possible, perhaps before the new Dunedin Hospital, a project already set to stretch Dunedin's ability to find construction workers.
ACC has signalled for some time Dunedin had been chosen as one of five hubs for its operations.
Mr Pickering said yesterday between 480 and 500 staff members were expected to work in Dunedin.
While plans for the new building were in the early stages, his goal was to build ''a real milestone for Dunedin, and a landmark''.
He also wanted a rehabilitation centre, community centre, and a creche to support staff.
While sites had been identified, he was in a ''commercial-type situation'', so he could not go into detail.
He was keen to get the build going before the hospital work started.
It was possible the construction workforce for the ACC building could move to the hospital build once it was done.
There was a budget for the building, but he would not reveal it yesterday.
Mr Pickering said the organisation was ''very committed to Dunedin''.
When it got to its expected 500 employees,it would be ''a major employer in the city''.
''Ultimately, for us to be able to deliver the services that we think we really want to be able to deliver, consolidating all our staff in a purpose-built building, in a single site, is going to be the future face of how ACC does business.''
The leased building was opened yesterday with speeches and waiata.
Mr Pickering said staff from Timaru had moved to Dunedin to work and recruitment was under way for other roles.
There were 300 staff over three sites in Dunedin.
Another 40-50 staff were expected to join soon, and about 50 more in the next 12 months.
