The team at Bayswater Marina are very excited about the notification of the development of the marina land. The proposal is the culmination of many years of consideration, planning and consultation, resulting in the world class development proposal that is presented to Council for consenting. They have provided this summary of the proposal.
What is the proposal?
The development is a comprehensive and carefully planned maritime village located on a public transport hub, providing immediate connection to the CBD via the ferry service and to the CBD and Takapuna via AT’s bus service.
It lives around and for the marina which comprises 418 marina berths. The vision is to improve the experience for marina users and the general public and turn the underutilised and undeveloped land into a world class maritime village populated with the best designs by New Zealand’s best urban designers and architects.
There will be a high quality and much improved water’s edge, with board walks and two parks – one at the north end of the peninsula and the other at the south, all protected for public use as an esplanade strip.
The ferry terminal is retained, but provision is made for its eventual relocation by Auckland Transport in the future to the old reclamation and wharf to the east of the property owned by Council. A new bus stop and turning area and also access for buses to and over the property is being provided. There is modern quality space provided for a better public waiting room for the ferry users. The boat ramp is retained and improved and 20 dedicated car and trailer parks are provided.
Maritime retail and office space is provided for, and new, improved and permanent marina offices are finally provided, giving berth holders and our fabulous marina staff improved quality of facilities. There are replacement modern and improved ablution facilities.
There will be one café at least, and hopefully two provided we can find outstanding operators. One café at the south end adjacent to the park and ferry terminal and the other at the northern end adjacent to the park there. And possibly a (well behaved) bar and restaurant.
There will be in addition, having provided for all the marina uses, public space and public transport requirements, 94 residential terraced houses, and 3 boutique apartment buildings of 9 apartments each – a total of 121 new homes for people to live in.
Each terraced house will be located on sites of mostly 6 metres wide and about 12 metres long, and provide the ability to design and build homes of up to 288 square metres with the possibility of a roof deck as well. It’s a very exciting prospect, and we are now receiving the first of the designs from our best New Zealand architects. We will be able to share these designs with you soon.
The application provides for unit title subdivision of the land. These lots will be sold. On each lot the owner can construct a terrace house that must follow strictly a rule book that our expert design consultants have developed. This rule book is fully controlled by legal instrument. There is the possibility of purchasing a completed and fully designed terraced house as well – so watch this space. Anyone having an interest should contact our team, email: oliver@empirecapital.co.nz.
The development is specifically designed to ensure that each terraced house is designed to look different to the next. This is an outcome that has proven successful at the award winning Vinegar Lane in Ponsonby and overseas in Borneo Sporenberg, Amsterdam. We firmly believe the outcome will be an architectural precinct of super high quality homes. An exemplar of quality New Zealand architecture.
We additionally have three boutique apartment buildings that have nine 3 or 4 bedroom apartments per building. As previously stated the total number of new dwellings at Bayswater will be 121.
What is the arrangement on the peninsula?
The 3.3ha of the reclamation peninsula land is privately owned by Bayswater Marina Holdings. That land will be rearranged with berth holder parking prioritised to the coastal edge behind a public walkway.
Two public parks are created, at the North and South end of the peninsula respectively, and new streets are to be constructed with a new coastal walkway around the outside perimeter. A total of 22.5% of the peninsula will be for public use excluding streets and carparking.
In the centre of the site will be three areas of land on which the new buildings – marine retail, marina office, cafes, a restaurant, terrace houses and apartments will be built – a vibrant people focussed exciting destination surrounded by our beautiful marina, the harbour and great public spaces.
How many carparks will be in the new scheme?
425 of which 310 are dedicated to the berth holders. The reason for this number, and the location of the berthholder carparks is to meet the marina operator’s obligation to provide carparking for berthholders which is as good as, if not better, than the existing carpark arrangements. And after all, this is a marina and we have focussed on the marina and marine related activities first and foremost, for all tour berth holders and users of the marina land.
How will outcomes be achieved?
Each terraced house site is controlled by comprehensive design rules. At each phase of the design process the lot owner must seek approval from a design committee that consists of selected architects and urban designers plus a representative from Auckland Council and the developer. Vetting each design against the rule book, the project will only allow the very best of designs to be approved.
The design rules have been tested with architects who have prepared an eclectic mix of designs. Two examples of these are provided from Jack McKinney and Pete Bossley.
Who is developing the land?
The land is not public land, is privately owned and is being developed by Bayswater Marina Holdings Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Empire Capital. Joining the owner in developing the land are a team of experts in planning, architecture, design, landscape and other fields of expertise.
What do berth-holders own?
Berth holders own a right to occupy a marina berth (boat park) in the form of a ‘license’ for a period of around 35 years terminating in 2031. That right includes a right to use certain facilities. Berthholders therefore do not have an equitable interest in the land or property but rather a right of occupation and use.
Has development always been anticipated here?
Yes. Since the creation of the marina there has been discussion and plans for the development of the peninsula. In early years a village was proposed and the prospectus for the marina stated:
‘The overall proposal for the future is the development of a maritime village concept on the reclamation’.
What is the different about this latest proposal?
Some members of the local community have advocated for a low density development. Taking that on board the proposal consciously provides for this. However, what makes this particular project stand out is the method for development with each dwelling being designed and built individually. This has been successfully achieved in a number of locations with far superior outcomes in terms of the quality of architecture and place. An example is the multi award winning Vinegar Lane in Ponsonby that was developed using this same process.
Why terrace house lots?
The terrace house lot concept is not unique, having been developed in the award winning Vinegar Lane development in Ponsonby and in Borneo Sporenberg in the Netherlands. This concept provides successfully for a diverse range of architectural designs.
The overarching goal is to avoid repetition in the way most terrace housing is developed in New Zealand. The outcome will be a high quality and diverse architectural precinct.
What is happening to carparking?
The priority for parking has always been to provide for the marina and this will continue with a new carparking layout bringing more carparks close to the gangways on the coastal edge. Additional parking as required by the Auckland Unitary Plan is provided for and each dwelling will cater for parking on each site.
It is understood that Auckland Council will continue to provide for ferry patron parking on the adjoining land.
What happens to the ferry?
Auckland Transport owns a single berth licence until 2031 at the marina and will continue to provide a ferry service in the way that you are accustomed too. Their plans to redevelop their own land includes plans to shift the ferry service to the wharf and build a purpose built bus to ferry interchange. As such public transport will be unaffected and continue as it has been.
Who is responsible for providing public transport and where?
Public transport is the responsibility of Auckland Transport. Public transport at the peninsula has been carefully planned for by the Council and AT and detailed into the Unitary Plan. The proposal incorporates the bus and ferry service to the site in a seamless manner.
What about recreation and public access?
The marina land has included an esplanade strip around the coastal edge and has always allowed for use for berthholder carparking as well as public access. The proposed development looks to continue to use the esplanade strip in this manner, whilst improving public access. The strip remains privately owned whilst providing public access.
Why has the Resource Consent been notified?
The consent is notified as a requirement of the Unitary Plan provisions for the precinct.
What is happening with boat trailer parks?
Apart from the 20 car and trailer parks required to be provided on the marina land, the Unitary Plan requires Auckland Transport to provide for boat trailer parking its land holding. There are additional boat trailer parks that are required to be incorporated in the development. How those are provided is at the discretion of the land owner.
How long will construction take?
Construction to build the parks, streets, coastal walkway and carparks, and to complete the subdivision works will take 6 to 9 months.
Individual dwellings may be built over time on each lot and will be developed in a hit and miss sequence depending on the response of land owners.
For those interested in more information about this development and residential opportunities that are coming up in the future, email enquiries to: enquiries@bayswatermarina.co.nz
