Nelson's Proposed Science And Technology Precinct No Longer Going Ahead

Cawthron Institute and Port Nelson Limited

Cawthron Institute and Port Nelson Limited have today announced the proposed Science and Technology Precinct at the Port will no longer proceed under the proposed concept.

The vision for the Precinct was to create a hub of innovation and creativity for the science and technology sectors. The Port was to construct three office buildings to house around 1,000 knowledge workers, and Cawthron had elected to purchase a section of the site to build its new laboratories, as well as become an anchor office tenant. However, due to the challenging economic climate, and after conducting many design iterations for their respective builds to try to reduce costs, both parties have agreed the Precinct is no longer financially viable.

Cawthron CEO Volker Kuntzsch said the decision not to proceed with building its new laboratories at the site was purely based on financial viability.

"Laboratories are extremely complex to build, requiring a significant amount of specialist material. Supply chain disruptions and inflation pressures saw the projected costs almost double from $25 million to around $45 million in less than two years. As a charitable trust, those costs were simply not feasible. Cawthron has existed for 100 years, and we intend to be around for 100 more – my job is to ensure our long-term viability and there was no certain way to do that with the additional level of debt".

Kuntzsch reiterated that Cawthron remained committed to the Precinct until the very end.

"As the increasing build costs became apparent, we decided to put our main Halifax Street campus up for sale in mid-2022 to raise some additional capital. Unfortunately, the tenders received did not achieve our expectations, which is ultimately a reflection of the cooling property market and meant we didn't have the finances required to cover the increasing costs."

Cawthron is now evaluating its options for redeveloping its main Halifax Street site (which it owns) to incorporate new laboratories.

"We are extremely disappointed that the Precinct is not proceeding," said Port Nelson's CEO Hugh Morrison. "The Port and Cawthron were fully committed to realising the vision of the Precinct and together we embarked on a robust due diligence process to progress the development for the science and technology sector."

"However, all is not lost for this site. The Port will explore other potential options for development that will contribute to economic growth for our region," said Morrison. "I'd like to thank Nelson City Council and the Nelson Regional Development Agency for their extensive support of the Precinct so far, and we look forward to continuing to work with them on alternative ideas for the site."

Both organisations continue to work together to help Nelson Tasman become New Zealand's 'science and technology hub', including supporting Moananui, a collaboration with others to accelerate the blue economy. Port Nelson has also partnered with Cawthron to support a three-year research programme into seagrass restoration in the Nelson Haven.

"These exciting examples demonstrate that we are not reliant on having a single site to collaborate to achieve great things for our region," said Kuntzsch.

Neither the Port nor Cawthron have accessed the capital grant funding allocated by Nelson City Council to help develop the Precinct as part of Nelson's Long-Term Plan.

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