Showgrounds developer seeks further settlement extension

Friday, 28 June 2024

The developer of The Showgrounds in Timaru has requested a second extension to the settlement date for two lots of land at the site.

The developer of a large retail centre in Timaru has asked for another extension to the settlement deadline for two parcels of land still owned by Timaru District Council’s holdings company.

Timaru Mega Centre Ltd was due to settle on two of three remaining lots at the Showgrounds retail development on Sunday.

According to the sale and purchase agreement for the site, signed in October 2020, the original settlement date for lots 8 and 9 was to be October 12, 2023.

However, the owner, Timaru District Holdings Ltd (TDHL) granted an eight-and-a-half month extension in October. A new settlement date of June 30, 2024, was agreed.

At the time of confirming the extension, TDHL general manager Frazer Munro said the council’s holdings company could have cancelled the settlement on the two lots but instead allowed an extension, adding: “We just want to see him finish it off.”

However, it appears that deadline will not be met.

TDHL general manager Frazer Munro: “We are still working through the details.” (File photo)

On Thursday afternoon, Munro confirmed the developer had not settled and had requested an extension.

He said the request for the further extension was “to line the dates up with the resource consent”.

Asked when that request was made, he said it had “been a conversation over the last few months”.

However, TDHL was yet to grant the extension. “We are still working through the details,” Munro said.

Clause redacted

Under the sale agreement, lots 7 to 9 were designated as stage 2 of the development and were still owned by TDHL. They sat at the southeastern corner of the development, just above Taitarakihi Creek.

Lot 8 was originally planned to accommodate a tavern, food and beverage businesses, and a large-format retail store, while lot 9 was to be a car park.

This plan from the sale and purchase agreement for the Timaru Showgrounds shows the lots, including those that were originally to be settled on October 12, 2023.

Lot 7 was 9242m² at the bottom corner of the site and had an original settlement date subject to clause 32.14.

What that clause states has not been made public, and neither has the amount the developer would pay for the remaining lots. That information was fully redacted in a copy of the agreement released to The Timaru Herald under the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act.

When TDHL sold the land to the developer for $6.4 million in 2019, a number of clauses were included in the sale and purchase agreement, which aimed to give some protection to Timaru’s central business district.

The original subdivision plans for the development were approved by the council under one scheme. They were given consent on December 11, 2020.

Since then, the developer had sought variations to consents.

In September, responding to an application to change consent conditions, council planning consultant John Cook said the council wanted “financial assurance” that a large pile of excavated materials would be remedied.

A May 1 photo of Hudson’s Hill, which remains standing at the site on Showgrounds Hill.

Stockpile deadline

At the time, Tony Gapes, of Timaru Mega Centre, said there were two main consents issued for the development – a land use and a subdivision consent.

He explained the land use consent required a staged development, which prevented completion of the project until July 2027. The subdivision consent did not allow for staging.

“We have asked council to vary the subdivision consent to allow for two stages so we can get the first four titles issued,” he said at the time.

“Having the buildings sitting on separate lots is common for developments of this nature and provides us with some additional flexibility on funding.

“For example, if we look to have different banks involved, we can use the different lots as collateral.”

Gapes also gave an assurance that “Hudson’s Hill”, the large stockpile of material on the site he had named after the company’s development manager, Paul Hudson, would be gone by May.

However, that was not to be, and the stockpile remains on the site.

In April, the council granted the subdivision consent for the property but demanded a $100,000 bond and added a non-negotiable deadline for the removal of the stockpile.

Gapes, who has been approached for comment, now has until December 1 to remove it or risk the council using the bond to carry out the works.