Mount Iron Junction Ltd, owned by Steve Schikker and Peter Greene, obtained resource consent in 2021 for a 6ha mixed-use development at the corner of State Highways 6 and 84, which includes a 90-bed workers’ accommodation village.
However, the project cannot get under way until Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency completes its $5 million roundabout on the corner, due to be completed early next year.
Mr Schikker was positive about being able to start the development and this week said more than 90 bedrooms for workers could be possible, if a recent application to modify and intensify the project was approved by the Queenstown Lakes District Council.
"We have sought advice and support and been told it would be ideal for more intensification, close to amenities such as Mount Iron, the recreation centre and the pool," Mr Schikker said.
The site fitted well with active transport policies and plans, as residents would have the Mount Iron recreation reserve in their backyard and could bike the short distance to town on bike paths rather than the road.
Mount Iron Junction Ltd was now "waiting to see what would happen" and was looking forward to helping solve Wanaka’s housing problems.
The company was "good to go" early next year, once the roundabout was finished and consent issues had been sorted, Mr Schikker said.
Meanwhile, Three Parks developer Allan Dippie has temporarily stalled a 50-bedroom workers accommodation development near the Wanaka Recreation Centre and sports fields.
Mr Dippie this week said he had decided to "put a stake in the ground" and put plans on hold in the hope the council would drop its proposed inclusionary zone plan change.
The council needed to "get rid of it [the plan change]" as it was "just a tax on housing" and created barriers for people who wanted to build, he said.
The proposed inclusionary zone would require most new residential subdivisions and developments to pay an affordable housing financial contribution to the council, to be passed on to registered community housing providers, such as the Queenstown Lakes Community Housing Trust.
Exceptions apply for developers with pre-existing agreements to provide contributions, but Three Parks is not one of them.
Mr Dippie said his focus at Three Parks so far had been on commercial development.
"No-one is living at Three Parks at the moment.
"The idea is to have residential there as well ... I would like to be doing more housing."
Mr Dippie acknowledged Wanaka businesses were searching town for staff housing rentals.
He said he expected that search would continue because more stores, including The Warehouse and Noel Leemings, were scheduled to open at the Three Parks retail park between September and December.
The Otago Daily Times has been reporting on the deeply entrenched housing crisis in the Queenstown-Lakes district for many years.
Residents’ options and compromises have included long-stay backpacker accommodation, camping in cars and caravans, double bunking, or living in satellite towns such as Lake Hawea, Luggate or Cromwell and driving long distances to work.
In 2007, the district council established the not-for-profit Queenstown Lakes Community Housing Trust to provide a range of affordable housing programmes and solutions.
More than a-quarter of houses in the district are thought to remain empty for long periods of time, and many holiday homeowners are said to prefer short-term holiday lets rather than long-term rentals.
