Invercargill City Centre Rejuvenation Begins…
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They’ve never seen anything like this before in Invercargill.
An entire city block within the city centre completely redeveloped with a state-of-the art mall.
Even Invercargill Central Ltd project director Geoff Cotton told special guests at the walkthrough on Wednesday night, that undertaking a development like this was pretty unique.
The doors to Invercargill Central were officially opened at 9am today, following a karakia by Ngāi Tahu Kaumātua Michael Skerrett.
Invercargill City Mayor Sir Tim Shadbolt formally cut the ribbon in a ceremony with invited guests that included MP’s Penny Simmonds and Liz Craig, city councillors and prominent local business people.
The new inner-city development is set to transform the region and reinforce Southland as leading the way in innovation and redesign.
Stage one welcomed retailers Farmers, Glassons, 2degrees, Merchant 1948, Michael Hill, Pagani, Mister Minit, Mobile King and Amazon.
Cotton On Mega, EB Games, Just Cuts, The Coffee Club and Pascoes will be opening later in the coming weeks.
His worship said when the project first started, “an enormous number of cranes” suddenly appeared in the city, “but at least we knew it was happening and underway.”
Invercargill Central Ltd chair Scott O’Donnell said stage one of the opening is a huge milestone for everyone who has played a part in bringing the city’s vision to life.
“This is truly an exciting asset to bring into the region and being able to include such a range of high-quality retailers is something we can’t wait to share with our community and visitors to the city,” he said.
The first opening is the culmination of the vision brought about by the Southland regional development strategy in 2016 to re-vitalise and regenerate the CBD of Invercargill.
The development equity investors of Invercargill City Council, Crown Regional Holdings Limited, O’Donnell Family Investments and Geoff Thomson, have combined their knowledge and resources to carry out the development successfully. The Community Trust South has also provided support for this project.
The first stage of opening comprises 11,570m2 of new constructed area for stores, atriums, and amenities, plus three acres of covered car parking, offering space for over 300 cars.
The centre is opening 21 months after vertical construction began in October 2020, and 29 months from the commencement of demolition.
The mall is a modern industrial design with carriageways linking to existing retailers in the CBD and eventually the entertainment/hospitality sector in lower Esk Street.
Councillor Alex Crackett said the mall was a “game changer” for Invercargill, and its special design with skylights and a full height ceiling ensured that people would still feel connected to the outside world.
Councillor Ian Pottinger said it really was an “unbelievable” dream that has come true. Having lived in Invercargill for 62 years, he said looking at that old city block in the past, “there was no real hope in sight. You could just see it disintegrating. Thank God there was a miracle. It really was.”
whatsoninvers.nz founder Mike Sanford said growing up in Invercargill, when it once had a thriving city centre, it was sad to see the decline from the 1990s, and decrepit and neglected buildings.
“We have been behind this from the start, and it’s great to see the foresight from local developers including Scott O’Donnell and Geoff Thomson to bring the heart back into our city centre.”
Stage two will add a further 4000m2 of shopping area, and a further 350 car parks will be opened in late November 2022.
Keep up-to-date with news and to see which exciting retailers are opening next.
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Related:
- Invercargill Central – Mal’s Impressions
- Big Brands Confirmed For Invercargill’s New City Block (full list)