Nelson City Council has purchased the Customhouse building on Haven Road to support its plans to redevelop this area of the waterfront.

Mayor Nick Smith says a key message from the City Revitalisation Summit in March was that the city needed to strengthen its links with the sea.

“Council in May established the Waterfront Redevelopment Taskforce with a focus on better using its vacant properties along Haven Road. Council already owns the adjacent Anchor, former Four Seasons and Reliance buildings in this strategic area of the city. The acquisition of the Customhouse provides the opportunity for developing a more comprehensive plan as Council now owns all the land and buildings on the north side of Haven Road between Wakefield Quay and Collins Street.”

The previous ownership of the Customhouse property was complex with Council owning the land and the separate building owner having a perpetually renewable 10-year lease.

“This was not ideal and neither party had the incentive to invest or redevelop. Both parties have agreed on a fair price of $1.3 million for Council’s purchase of the building,” Mayor Nick says.

“I was involved 20 years ago as MP with Council, NZTA and Port Nelson in setting up the Nelson 2000 Trust that redeveloped the adjacent area on Wakefield Quay that included The Styx restaurant, the Early Settlers Memorial and the walkway to the old Powerhouse building. The ambition of the new taskforce is to expand this public precinct to include these properties along Haven Road and improve walking and cycling access to the city.”

Waterfront Redevelopment Taskforce Chair Councillor Mel Courtney says the strategic purchase of the Customhouse building will enable the taskforce to get on with working towards a comprehensive development of this key area.

“We have been striving to obtain it for a while. It’s an important location, the missing piece of the puzzle for us to enhance the redevelopment of our beloved waterfront.”

Mayor Nick says work to redevelop this area of the waterfront is complemented by the Memorandum of Understanding Council signed with Port Nelson in August and the port company being represented on the Waterfront Redevelopment Taskforce.

“We want to work with the port on the redevelopment of this Haven Road area in a way that both enhances the public’s enjoyment of the waterfront and the port’s efficient operation.

“We don’t have any preconceived views on the future of the Customhouse property. The next step for Council will be to commission design work on redeveloping the full Haven Road area encompassing the 10 parcels of land it now owns fully. We welcome ideas from the public and business community on how we can enhance this iconic area for the benefit of the city and the region.”

Notes:

* The previous owner bought the Customhouse building in 2007 and the perpetual 10-year ground lease was transferred by the Port company from the former owner at that time.

* Council subsequently purchased the underlying land from the Port in 2014 and has since leased it under the same perpetual ground lease.

* The building is listed in the Nelson Region Management Plan as Heritage A and Heritage NZ listed Historic Place (Category 2).

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