Sky high prices for Lakeview
Penthouses in the Lakeview development above Queenstown CBD will set you back between $9 million and $20 million.
Sotheby’s International Realty New Zealand has begun marketing property in the planned upmarket apartment blocks, in the first stage of the billion-dollar development on the 10ha former camping ground.
The top floor five-bedroom property, which spans 475sqm including a 37sqm balcony with views of Lake Wakatipu, is expected to fetch around $20m, while there’s also four-bed options. Sub-penthouses are guided at $8m-9m, while if you just want half-a-floor lower down, that will cost between $8m and $8.5m.
Even the two and three-bedroom apartments are only for the very well heeled, costing between $2m and $5m, while studios and one-beds are guided at $750k to $1.5m.
The marketing material for Roto Te Taumata | Lakeview, sent to an exclusive mailing list, also includes a ‘short term rental appraisal’- effectively how much you’ll earn from Airbnb.
They range from $450 per night for a 30sqm one-bed to $2,200 per night for a three-bedroom 127sqm apartment. The penthouses aren’t listed in the appraisal. For comparison, Eichardt’s 240sqm The Penthouse, was $10k per night when launched in 2017, while luxury houses in Queenstown Lakes are listed at more than $20k per night.
Lakeview has proved to be a controversial development, mainly for the deal Queenstown Lakes District Council stuck with the consortium of developers, which includes Australian firm 94 Feet, Centuria Capital Group, Britomart Hospitality Group, and architects Monk Mackenzie.
They plan to deliver 450 residential apartments and 96 co-living units over the next 12 to 15 years, along with 600 hotel rooms in three hotels, and around 10,000sqm of commercial and retail space.
Queenstown Lakes District Council stands to make $27 million over the coming years, as well as 50% of the development’s “super profits”, although that has not been detailed fully in public.
QLDC would have realised more profit but it as part of the deal it is also preparing the land and infrastructure, and the costs skyrocketed after asbestos was found on the site. The current budget is $70m.
Queenstown Lakes mayor Glyn Lewers says he’s pleased the developer is making initial steps to engage with the market.
“The material is consistent with the Developer’s master development plan, that has been assessed against the project objectives and approved by QLDC,” he says.
“The first stage (Roto Collection) has a mix of over 200 apartments as well as 79 co-living units. Not all will be premium penthouse apartments. This will provide for the intensification sought via Plan Change 50 including a variety of price points.”
Lewers points to a recent Audit, Finance and Risk committee report which says the benefits of Lakeview have always been seen as broader than pure financial return, rather as support for the CBD and economy.
By the end of the development, spending will generate annual economic impacts equal to regional GDP of $100m, employment for 1,800 people and household incomes of $52m, it says.
The council also elected to credit 5% of its Lakeview land receipts to the Queenstown Community Housing Trust and retain the 1ha Lynch Block, potentially for worker accommodation and/or affordable housing.
The civil works are scheduled to be completed and handed over in the first quarter of 2024, with construction beginning soon after. Stage 1 should be completed by late 2026.
