Queenstown's second "road to nowhere" is permanently closed to cars and pedestrians.
Did this road cost $50 million?
The QLDC has built a second "road to nowhere" as part of a $75 million budget to prepare the Lakeview site for the Australian developers of the $2 billion stalled Lakeview project.
This is in addition to the $15 million, 300 metre "pointless" upgrade of Thompson Street that Crux has discovered is part of the unfunded Arterial Road Stage 3 work. The new section of road is right next to Lakeview but leads at both ends to unimproved roading.
But this week we've been looking at the finished, but closed, extension to Isle Street that lies at the centre of the Lakeview project.
The extension of Isle Street (at the centre of this QLDC Lakeview plan) is a ratepayer funded "road to nowhere" that runs right through the centre of the yet to be started Lakeview development. It goes nowhere else. The 17 numbered parcels of land are the "super lots" that are to be sold in stages, over 20 years, to the developer - but which could have been sold outright for $42 million.
The extension of Isle Street is a ratepayer funded "road to nowhere" that runs right through the centre of the yet to be started Lakeview development. It goes nowhere else. The 17 numbered parcels of land are the "super lots" that are to be sold in stages, over 20 years, to the developer - but which could have been sold outright for $42 million.
The road is finished - but the entrance is blocked.
The new one way road runs all the way through the planned Lakeview project so it's unclear why this is a ratepayer funded project and not an "internal road" funded by the developers.
Also unexplained is why this section of road has been finished with expensive benches, rubbish bins and landscaping but with zero construction on Lakeview itself.
The road is finished to a high standard - complete with rubbish bins and expensive landscaping.
What's more is that the one way road literally does go nowhere. It's an internal Lakeview road.
Residents have even contacted Crux to ask why the street lights on the new road are left on all night - when the road is closed to both pedestrians and traffic.
A Crux reader reports that the streetlights along the new "road to nowhere" are left on all night, every night. Thanks for the photo!
Crux has approached QLDC for comment but this is the latest summary detail from a recent Audit, Finance and Risk Committee review of Lakeview.
The full report (link below) says that QLDC's preparatory work for Lakeview was completed in August 2024.
The land is ready - but why did it cost QLDC $75 million to clear? And why are the developers not building Lakeview?
It's not clear why the developers have delayed what could be called their side of the bargain. One possible reason could be slow pre-sales, possibly complicated by concerns over the current unresolved sewage crisis.
1. In October 2019, Queenstown Lakes District Council (QLDC) executed a development agreement (DA) with QT Lakeview Developments (‘the developer’) for the development of eight land parcels within the Lakeview precinct.
2. The DA is structured in a way that QLDC will progressively sell the land parcels (Super Lots) to the developer in seven stages, which must then develop each Super Lot in accordance with a master development plan and documentation approved by QLDC, having regard to QLDC’s project objectives and material outcomes for the development of the Lakeview precinct.
3. The developer will progressively purchase the Super Lots. It will pay a base land payment to QLDC on settlement as and when it takes title to each Super Lot, together with 50% share of any super profit that may be achieved in respect of a stage calculated at the development completion of each stage.
4. QLDC must undertake the subdivision of the precinct to create the Super Lots (and separate title for each), which requires QLDC to complete specified roading and services infrastructure and site preparation works (‘Council works’). The developer will develop each stage progressively in line with a programme, with key milestones and milestone dates.
5. Before the developer can call for settlement of a Super Lot, it must satisfy a range of settlement conditions relating to document/design approval, consenting, funding, equity commitment and contractor engagement in respect of the Super Lot it wants to acquire.
6. QLDC advised the developer of a Council works completion date of 21 August 2024. Deferred stormwater works, to be completed by the developer and allowed for in subdivision consent approval, are subject to design and agreement on the allocation of costs between the parties.
7. The Alliance works (subdivision and ancillary) package has been completed with claims against the Lakeview subdivision works finalised. Any outstanding Alliance claims relating to the ancillary works, trunk infrastructure projects which are not a DA requirement, are to be reported on separately by the infrastructure team.
There is no reason at all that ratepayers should pay for this road. I do not want to subsidise developers. What murky stuff has been going on?
I have heard a rumour that the road, paths and landscaping will need to be removed to handle the heavy construction traffic if this job ever goes ahead.