Landmark development for Greerton Village

Concept plans are being drawn up by developers for what is potentially the biggest building project in the history of the Greerton Village Shopping Centre.

The two developers will put their ideas to the Tauranga City Council in October, as part of a push by the council to enter into joint-venture partnerships to develop two prime parcels of land it owns in the Greerton and Mount Maunganui shopping centres.

Council property manager Anthony Averill said the concepts being prepared by the Auckland and Tauranga developers could potentially cover the Subway block on the corner of Chadwick Rd and Greerton Rd, the adjoining public library and Plunket sites, and overlap on to the Village Green.

The objective of the financially stretched council was to secure a development that included a new 1000sq m public library for the southern end of the city.

Mr Averill said the developers were being asked to put something together at the least cost to ratepayers, with the options of the council owning the library portion of the development or leasing the space.

He said a project taskforce chaired by Councillor Terry Molloy wants the Village Green to remain intact as much as possible.

Cr Molloy said he believed the development would be a positive one for Greerton and he hoped to be able to share plans of the development with the community by the end of the year.

"It's a plan we hope will deliver a new library to the community. It will also deliver new retail impetus to the Village Green."

Mr Averill said it was encouraging in the current economic climate to have received two expressions of interest for the Greerton land. The names of the developers were confidential.

"They are working hard. It will be interesting to see what they come up with."

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