In an email interview yesterday with the Otago Daily Times, Mr Gapes also said his company, Queenstown Gateway Ltd, would begin negotiations "shortly" with mainstream cinema operators to see which chain will operate the 38,000sq m complex's proposed six movie screens.
New Zealand's major movie chains include Hoyts, Amalgamated Cinemas and Skycity Cinemas, and Reading Cinemas, which runs a three-screen complex in central Queenstown.
Five Mile is the name of the Tuscan-style village abandoned after developer David Henderson's Hanover Finance-backed Five Mile Holdings Ltd went into receivership in July 2008.
Queenstown Gateway bought stage one (78,000sq m) of the failed project in November last year for $12 million and acquired stage two (234,000sq m) in August for $27 million.
Mr Gapes said the 38,000sq m Grants Rd complex will hold on to the Five Mile name for now.
"... but we are investigating branding the whole area since we have picked up Stage 2 recently," he said.
"Large format" retailers had expressed interest in the complex, but Mr Gapes would not confirm what national and multinational chains might be coming or what percentage of retail sites had been leased.
However, he said he was confident there was a market for the project.
"Yes, the current level of interest suggests that there definitely is a market - a lot of retailers are looking at the potential growth of Queenstown and the limited opportunities to get into a well-located retail centre," he said.
"We are not ready to come out and name tenants but there has been a lot of interest from tenants that have been looking at Queenstown for last few years."
The project is underpinned by a forecast surge in tourists coming to the resort, which is projected to rise from 1.7 million visitors per year to 1.91 million by 2015.
To service the growth, Queenstown Airport is spending $30 million expanding domestic and transtasman air links to the Wakatipu basin.
