Dunedin City Council has approved a two-year extension of resource consent for Oakwood Properties Ltd to partially demolish and redevelop the heritage buildings located at 250 and 252 George St.
The buildings include a street-facing shop built in the 1870s and a two-storey factory at the rear dating from 1918.
In late 2020, plans were put forward to transform them into a ground-floor retail space along with seven apartments.
Oakwood Properties commercial property manager Rosaria Marsh said the development remains in its very early stages. She also confirmed that a retail component will still be included.
The outlook on Dunedin’s main street is now somewhat more optimistic.
“George St’s looking great,” Marsh said.
“We see value in investing in the building, which is why we’ve extended.”
According to a report, resource consent was originally approved in December 2020, but various factors at that time delayed its immediate implementation.
Supply problems caused by Covid-19 restrictions had unreasonably driven up development costs and coincided with the one-way upgrades on George St.
“The physical logistics of undertaking the upgrade work during the George St upgrade were determined to be prohibitive, both logistically and economically, and a decision was made to defer the works until after this upgrade work was completed.”
During that period, a key architect and engineer had retired, and the budget estimates created in 2021 and 2022 are now outdated.
The approved design is being reassessed to confirm it remains suitable for the target tenant demographic and aligns with the revamped appearance of George St.
When initially approved, the development proposed retail activity on the ground floor facing George St, along with seven apartments, six carparks, an outdoor courtyard, and a shared laundry across the site.