Quartz Development will lodge the first consent applications for the new precinct today after hosting a public meeting about the new Lake Hāwea Hotel & Residences project yesterday.
Managing director Matt Laming said the proposal had been a long time coming.
"There’s still one hotel, one store and one petrol station. It’s been that way for 50 years, but the town’s population and the people coming to town has changed significantly.
"It’s about social spaces; and more commercial footprint in Lake Hawea to support a growing population, visitor base and changing demographics.
"It’s also an acknowledgement that what’s there at the moment is no longer fit for purpose. This will be a modernisation of
the facilities."
The proposed new precinct will feature a hotel, visitor accommodation, private residences, hospitality, retail and entertainment.
The new hotel will be relocated further up Capell Ave on a site that includes the existing Hāwea Store & Kitchen.
The commercial precinct will be complemented by 20 premium lakefront lots in a subdivision on the existing hotel site.
Mr Laming said it would be two intertwined projects, with the first consent application concerning the subdivision of the present hotel site.
Further consent applications will follow for the removal of the hotel and construction of the new precinct.
"We've owned these parcels of land for several years.
" It’s a small community, and there’s a fairly high degree of sensitivity about assets.
"We wanted the community to get a first view of our plans."
Lake Hawea Community Association chairwoman Cherilyn Walthew said she needed to see what was "on the table" before she commented on the proposals.
However, she said there would be a strong interest within the community about the project.
The small township’s population has nearly doubled in the past five years — at the time of the 2018 census, its population was 1020 but by 2023, it had risen to 2020 people.
"We've seen a huge amount of growth in Hawea for the past few years", Ms Walthew said.
"The community wants some services, and [for them to] operate in the space where we live in, rather than [having] to go to Wanaka for everything."
The community was already excited about the supermarket arriving in Lake Hawea next month .
"That will just provide us with another bit of independence.
"We will need to get the feel from the community about Quartz Development’s proposal, but the most important thing about Lake Hawea is that it needs to function as a community.
"If some more spaces were created for the community, then that would increase that function.
"Just having something where you could wander off to and socialise with other people over a drink and a meal would be fabulous."
Queenstown Lakes District Cr Cody Tucker — also a Lake Hawea resident — said he had seen the initial plans for the project and was "quietly optimistic".
He accepted the scale of the proposed change might be "confronting" for some of the older residents of the township.
"It’s of far higher density than what Lake Hawea is used to, but it was nice to see it still maintain a very village feel.
"There have been a lot of first-time home buyers arrive in the township over the past few years, there’s definitely been gentrification.
"This project is another sign of the times.
Mr Laming would not divulge how much the project would cost, other than to say it was "significant".
It was hoped that construction of the Lake Hāwea Hotel & Residences would begin late 2025.
