The building next to the North Otago Netball Centre in Taward St, directly opposite the co-education Catholic school’s grounds, has been empty since the start of the new school year after another hostel building was redeveloped so girls could join their male counterparts in a more central school location.
Now that that project has been completed, the focus has shifted to what to do with the former hostel building, which can house up to 70 people and features several common areas.
Mr Olsen said a potential tenant was lined up and a deal was expected to be reached in the near future.
"What we are doing right now is we are entering into an agreement for the rental of that property, while we are ascertaining what’s going to happen in the long term. We’re keen to have the place occupied and we are well advanced with a rental agreement."
However, he would not reveal who that party was, only saying that any rental agreement was expected to be a short-term one.
He said that meant a long-term plan needed to be considered.
"Because the land is owned by the Dunedin diocese and our college foundation owns the buildings, we’re going to be bringing together all of the parties in a meeting to determine what we do with the property.
"There’s a couple of options there. It might be that the property is put on the market and we resolve the asset and look at other ventures, or we keep the asset and look at other business opportunities for that. We’re hopeful that kind of decision might be made in the next month."
The former girls’ hostel building was constructed on former parish land in the mid-1980s, after the school became co-educational in 1983.
