Decision due soon on Frankton's 700 person accommodation village

A decision is imminent on a large-scale worker accommodation block planned to be put across the road from the Queenstown Events Centre in Frankton.

Last year the Government approved a fast-track consenting process for the company behind the development, No.1 Hansen Road Limited,and its Sydney-based director Eli Shellin says he’s now expecting a decision in the next 20 working days.

Planned are 554 residential units pitched as a worker village able to accommodate 710 people.

Plans for 554 residential units pitched as a worker village behind the BP roundabout in Frankton (Image: Supplied).

Mr Shellin says the accommodation will be more focused towards providing housing for transient people, and he sees a mixture of hospitality and tourism workers, young professionals and older working professionals living there.

He says the location of the site on Hansen Road, with its close proximity to the Queenstown CBD, the airport and Frankton, is well positioned to provide a solution to a "big portion" of Queenstown's current worker accommodation shortage.

According to Arrowtown economist Benje Patterson, it would fulfil 10 percent of the district’s housing demand for the next decade. 

As it stands, the proposal is made up of eight accommodation blocks of up to six storeys high, each with a retail or commercial space on the ground floor.

There are a mixture of one, two, three and four-bedroom units. 

Mr Shellin says affordability is an aim.

“While the actual dollar figures will largely be determined by market conditions at the time, we expect rental rates will target affordability for workers.”

He hypothesises that the Frankton development, if it gets green light, will make the market more competitive.

“By injecting this volume into the residential rental market, rentals will naturally become more affordable for the workers of Queenstown.”

The total site is 15,000 square metres, and it will include a three-level carpark.

Mr Shellin says this facility is a few weeks away from completion. 

Main image: The Hansen Road site, which 710 workers could soon call home if a resource consent application goes an Australian developer's way in the coming weeks.