Stoney Creek GCO Ltd bought the 1.89ha site over the road from Wānaka Station Park in a mortgagee sale in July 2022.
The company is associated with Auckland property investor and developer Andrew Bendemski.
Resource consent was obtained on December 23 to amend conditions relating to staging, flood management and construction hours.
Stoney Creek sales and marketing director Doug Walker confirmed the new owner was looking forward to starting the project as soon as possible after a "long journey" getting all the boxes ticked with the council.
"This is a fresh start. We have been working with the council tidying up [consent conditions] so there are no ambiguities," he said.
The previous owner, Roy’s Bay Estate Ltd, which is associated with Christopher Holmes of Waiheke Island, had applied for a 73-unit retirement village in 2008.
That drew 128 submissions of opposition from neighbours and consent was denied.
The previous developer amended his plans and successfully appealed to the Environment Court.
The latest proposal, by Stoney Creek GCO Ltd, is for a 32-unit residential village for people of all ages and work status, as well as 37 retirement units for people aged 55 and over, all under one body corporate.
Changes to the building design, site layout, car parks, communal areas and several other conditions have already been obtained.
Senior council planner Tim Anderson processed and granted the most recent amendments on a non-notified basis last week.
Mr Anderson said neighbours’ previous objections were not relevant to the most recent application.
Some residents and landowners continued to raise concerns with the council but they would not be adversely affected by the most recent changes, he said.
Nearby resident Dave Evans was disappointed because some of the neighbours had wanted to meet the planner before the decision was made.
They believed the changes should have been be publicly notified.
Mr Evans said the development was "nothing close to the promised retirement village" and the site was "an absolute disgrace".
