Tauranga Supa Centa kicks off

By Chris Hutching

Friday 21st May 2004

It will one of the biggest concrete pours in Tauranga's history when the floor is laid for the city's largest bulk retail development, the $30 million Papamoa Supa Centa, and it will even contain a Maori midden.

Earthworks started in May and construction is expected in August on the 4.5ha site at the beachside residential area, opposite the Royal Palm Shopping Centre on Gravatt Rd.

Colliers International is signing up tenants for the 16,000sq m building development over 10 separate sites, originally planned by Auckland-based Jonmer Projects and Landplan, but sold last year for $13 million to six investors, including a Kaiaua farmer, an American developer-entrepreneur, a doctor-pharmacy owner and a Papamoa developer.

Plans for each building will be put through a rigorous inspection by a committee comprising an architect and developers.

"We set up the committee to ensure the Supa Centa is comprehensively planned and doesn't end up as a series of unrelated designs", Jonmer Projects director Mike Antoniadis said.

Jonmer also worked with the local Nga Potiki tribe to preserve a midden site, he said. There were seven middens on the land and Antoniadis said the company agreed to preserve one under a roundabout within the shopping centre.

Already committed or showing interest in the Papamoa Supa Centa are VTNZ, Midas, South Pacific Tyres and Repco on an auto centre site at the northern end of the development, plus a doctor's surgery, pharmacy, bank, video franchise and Mitre 10 Home & Trade.

One or two other designated sites within the Supa Centa would carry smaller tenancies, but the rest of the development will be bulk retail, Colliers International director Simon Clark said. In front of the development, Foodstuffs has purchased a 2.5ha site on the corner of Gravatt and Domain roads, rumoured to be planning a Pak 'N Save supermarket.

Papamoa was New Zealand's biggest growth area last year. Six separate residential subdivisions are under construction and on average 450 houses have been built every year for the past five years. The Tauranga District Council's demographic figures predict a population of more than 33,000 for Papamoa by 2021. At present, there are 26,000 people within a 10 minute drive time of the Supa Centa development

Clark said growth in Papamoa was also exceeding trends in the commercial and industrial sectors.

"It is the only growth area in Tauranga for developments in both these sectors. We believe Papamoa's supply of land for all types of developments will run out in the next six to 10 years and will be fully utilised in the next 12 years."

The council has drafted a policy for studying the rezoning of 1100ha of predominantly rural land at the eastern end of Papamoa. It is the last remaining large potential greenfields area in the district, but it could take some years to gain a zone change and be fully developed.

As debate continues on planning for Tauranga's growth, Clark expects bigger format national chains and larger local businesses and franchises to jump at the chance to lease the planned 100-1000sq m bulk retail stores, renting for $150-350/sq m depending on size, fitout and density.

Clark said the sites should lease quickly because of the stringent guidelines controlling the quality and appearance of buildings.

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