Long-Awaited Millbrook West Development Underway

Media Release from Millbrook West
September 6 2007

Long-Awaited Millbrook West Development Gets Underway

Construction of a half a billion dollar, 200-plus home housing development at Millbrook West in Queenstown officially kicked off today when the wheels and tracks of eight massive diggers, two motor scrapers, four bulldozers and seven dump trucks were set in motion.

An earthworks team is on site shifting and shaping approximately 250,000 cubic metres of soil.

Millbrook Property and Development Manager Ben O’Malley said this was a historic day to launch what had been a long-awaited project at the five-star Millbrook resort.

“Since Millbrook’s inception 18 years ago there has always been a vision of creating New Zealand’s biggest and best country club and lifestyle resort. The owners and the board have put their full weight behind this development -- this is the future of Millbrook,” he said.

Stage One will consist of 59 sites on sixty hectares of land to the west of the existing resort, a new nine-hole golf course designed by New Zealand golf legend Greg Turner, and a new driving range.

Adding to the existing 143 privately-owned properties within the resort, the first 25 sites were sold in December 2006 and July 2007 in what was described as one of the fastest land grabs in the history of resort development.

Total sales for the first 25 Millbrook West sites have added up to more than $31million.

The building sites are all on sunny, elevated North-facing slopes overlooking the new and existing golf courses, some with views of Lake Hayes, and all with views to Coronet Peak, the Crown Range or The Remarkables mountain ranges. The majority of sites have been bought by Kiwis, many of them existing property owners at Millbrook.

Mr O’Malley said the natural contours and elevation of the land had also lent itself well to identifying building platforms with the very best views and sunshine.

“The sites are simply sensational,” he said.

“As well as the house sites, the remainder of the land is beautifully set out for a golf course with natural water features, including Mill Stream, and undulating land and rocky outcrops,” Mr O’Malley said.

“Our design team has combined its talents exceptionally well to create exquisite neighbourhoods within the stunning natural amphitheatre of the Wakatipu basin.

“With our master plan, we’ve married the requirements of the golf course with the needs of the real estate development, and this is a very happy marriage.”

The new golf course will integrate with the existing Bob Charles-designed 18-hole championship course to offer three interchangeable nine-hole courses.

Mr O’Malley said Millbrook had strict design controls in place on the land to ensure consistent high standards of style and design for developments at the resort.

The consultancy team helping bring the dream to reality includes golf course designer Greg Turner, Paddy Baxter from the Baxter Design Group, who is one of Millbrook’s original designers, Fred van Brandenburg, one of the original architects of the resort, Signal Management Group from Dunedin, surveyors Clark Fortune McDonald, planners John Edmonds and Associates and engineers Montgomery Watson Harza.

Millbrook was established in 1993 and is now recognised worldwide as a world-class recreational and lifestyle community set in the Wakatipu Basin. It has its own special zoning under the provisions of the QLDC District Plan which allows the resort to contribute to visitor and economic development within the district, recognising the special amenities of the rural area and providing for ongoing resort activities.

ENDS

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