A multimillion-dollar development on Dunedin's Princes St is still alive, but the man behind the project says ''changes'' may be needed to accommodate a row of historic facades.
Christchurch developer Luke Dirkzwager, of Prista Apartments, last year won Environment Court approval to demolish buildings at 372-392 Princes St and 11 Stafford St.
The agreement was conditional on the retention of three of the buildings' four historic facades, while the rest of the 100- to 150-year-old buildings made way for a retail and apartment development.
There have been no signs of progress since, but, contacted yesterday, Mr Dirkzwager said the project was still alive.
He had been busy with Christchurch interests, but planned to return to the Princes St project early next year.
Work would begin with a review of the development plans, including fresh detailed designs and costs, and ''physically what we have to do to make it all work'' with the facades, he said.
He could not give an exact timeframe for construction until after the design process, but expected any building work would be at least a year or two away.
Neither could he give a figure for the value of the development, except to confirm it would be in the millions and ''substantially more than we anticipated''.
''It's not going to be an easy baby any more, you know, because obviously, we have to hang on to the front of the buildings.
''We now have to do our sums and our costings, and how to make it work, so it's feasible. We're not going down this track not to go ahead with it,'' Mr Dirkzwager said.
Changes could be considered if a mixed-use development did not ''stack up'', but Mr Dirkzwager did not want to discuss potential alternatives.
''We need to have a look that it's feasible to do what we want to do. If it's not, we might have to change some things so that it is feasible.''
His comments marked the latest chapter in a long-running fight, dating back to 2008, when Mr Dirkzwager first sought consent to demolish the buildings completely.
The Dunedin City Council granted consent for the development in 2010, but the decision was appealed to the Environment Court, leading to a protracted round of negotiations which culminated in last July's agreement.
Under the deal, facades at 380, 386 and 392 Princes St will be retained, while the buildings behind them - dating back to between the 1860s and 1913 - can be demolished.
The largest building, at 372-378 Princes St, would be removed with its facade, despite dating back to 1879.
The consent gave Mr Dirkzwager until 2021 to advance the project. Heritage advocate Peter Entwisle predicted last year any construction was likely to be at least five years away.
Mr Dirkzwager remained frustrated by the process, and the city's attitude to development, but did not want to discuss the issues yesterday.
''I don't want to go into that because it only gets my hair up.''
