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Rick Martin, developer of the 12-storey Nautilus apartments in Ōrewa, is proposing to build an eight-storey ‘vertical retirement village’ directly in front of that complex.
One of the Red Beach developer’s companies, K Rd Investments, bought Tamariki House, at 7 Tamariki Ave, in January.
Recently K Rd Investments applied to Auckland Council for resource consent to demolish the three-storey Tamariki House (now called Coast HQ), and construct a multi-level, mixed-use building to be known as ‘The Ivy’.
The application is for an eight storey block with retail on the ground floor and 73 apartments above.
The site is zoned Business-Town Centre and has a 27m allowable height limit.
The proposed new building is around 29.9m tall (including the roof) which is one reason that consent is required.
Martin says his concept is to provide independent living and ‘vertical retirement village’ options (with services such as shopping and in-home care contracted out) for occupants aged 65 plus.
Only 16 carparks are proposed, and Martin says this because with everything close at hand, residents will not need to own a car. He says the building will supply a pool of cars, as well as 6 mobility scooter parks, 16 bike parks and charging points.
At eight storeys, the proposed building will affect views towards the sea for front units of the Nautilus, on floors 4-8 – something Martin describes as “not ideal”.
He says that issue was quite a conflict for him, as he remains proud of the Nautilus. However, he notes that only four out of the Nautilus’ total 153 apartments will be affected.
“There will be either no, or very little effect, on the other 149 units, as most of them will not be able to see the building from their unit,” Martin says.
The application for consent notes that views of existing buildings are not guaranteed, and the proposal is of a height and scale anticipated by the town centre zoning.
Regarding public input, the applicant states that public notification, or even limited notification (of adjacent landowners) is not required or desirable because “the proposal results in less than minor adverse effects”.
Martin says that although he is seeking resource consent, he is in no rush to take the project forward.
“There is good tenancy of the building at present, with some leases running until 2027 with rights of renewal. I intend to maintain the current use of the building as a central Ōrewa workspace for at least the next 5-7 years,” he says.
Council advises that the application is currently on hold awaiting further information from the applicant.
The resource consent application is linked here
Positive effects
The consent application notes a number of ‘positive effects’ that the proposed development will bring to the owner, residents and the wider community. These include: • Increasing the economic benefit of the owner. This includes either the continued rent, or sale of the residential apartments. • An increase in neighbourhood amenity and passive surveillance throughout the day and night, contributing to a safer and more walkable residential area. • Housing supply and variety of living choices. • More business activity in the area.
