Lakeview developers: Auckland hotel sale and an unexplained Government relationship

Is there a cashflow issue and who was the Government high flyer who helped make things happen in Queenstown?

Analysis.

• Does Queenstown’s Lakeview progress depend on an Auckland hotel sale?

• We ask about the Government “whizz kid” who played a key role in setting up Lakeview’s Queenstown relationship/sales network. And then left.

• Is the current sewage crisis a factor in the Lakeview development coming to an apparent halt?

The developers of Queenstown’s Lakeview development, who appear to have downed tools in terms of starting any local construction activity, have put their recently completed Auckland Hotel Indigo on the market in an apparent bid to raise cash.

• For sale -only months after opening. Auckland’s Hotel Indigo.

The hotel was put on the market only two months after a December 2024 launch.

Speaking to the National Business Review, and Auckland property specialist, Nick Thompson of Jones Lang Lasalle, said the Hotel Indigo sale would have been motivated by the need to “recycle” capital into other developments. It is thought that Queenstown’s Lakeview is the project that is in need of fresh capital.

Various deadlines set by the QLDC for a start of work on the Lakeview site, and the first part payment of a 20 year staged deal, appear to have been extended (see further information below and comment from QLDC).