Permission has been granted to knock down a group of dilapidated character buildings and it is unclear what might replace them.
Neighbour Jon Leng, who had sometimes heard bricks fall at the subject site, said demolition should proceed as soon as possible and the owners ought to have plans.
Heritage facades were set to be lost, but it would still be possible to create structures with a similar look, he said.
"They should just get on with it."
The Dunedin City Council this week granted consent for the demolition of buildings at 380, 386 and 392 Princes St and 11 Stafford St, as well as the Princes St heritage facades.
The building at 372-378 Princes St, previously at risk of being lost, is to be retained.
Historical bread ovens at 392 Princes St are to be retained.
Demolition at 11 Stafford St is required primarily for access to the rear of the buildings.
The consent requires demolition to be followed by construction of replacement buildings within two years.
If this cannot be achieved, a public "pocket park" will be created at the site until redevelopment begins. It must have "soft landscaping, vegetation and lighting".
Real estate agent Merrin Bath said the ideal result would be development that was "sympathetic" to the area, helping to re-energise that part of the city centre.
Some redevelopment had proceeded in the area and there was demand from tenants and businesses to be there, she said.
Michael Lee’s business, Southern Cross Jewellers, is in the building no longer set to be demolished.
He was grateful matters seemed to have been resolved.
"My building is actually very solid," Mr Lee said.
Graffiti had taken hold in the area, but the landlord had been good, he said.
The buildings were bought in March 2021 and the ratepayer is recorded as being Totara-Dunedin Properties, which has Geoffrey and David Yee, of Christchurch, as its directors.
There are seven other shareholders, including Jadewynn Holdings, of which Geoffrey Yee and Beverley Ng, also of Christchurch, are directors.
Dangerous building notices apply at 380 and 386 Princes St, and 392 Princes St is listed as an affected building.
The buildings at 380 and 386 Princes St had been assessed by Beca as being in a state of collapse.
Dunedin developer Stephen Macknight said the site had decayed to the point where something had to happen.
He hoped a development of appropriate size and scale would proceed.
"Done well, it could enhance the streetscape," Mr Macknight said.
The decision to allow demolition follows years of inactivity at the site and protracted argument.
"Let’s hope it’s the start of something positive," Mr Macknight said.
Policy work ought to be done to prevent "demolition by neglect" in the future, he said.
It was noted in the demolition consent decision "the irreversible loss of the scheduled heritage buildings will also result in a significant degradation of the heritage streetscape character of an early commercial area of Dunedin".
"Sympathetic redevelopment of the subject site is imperative for mitigating the effect on heritage streetscape character."
The consent decision commented that the council understood a replacement building or buildings would be constructed in the short-to-medium term.
"The future development need not be a direct replica of the historic architecture, but it should be a sympathetic contemporary design that makes use of traditional materials."
