Tauranga's broken-hearted CBD, once littered with for lease signs in shop windows has turned a page with the opening of a $200 million development.
A render of the finished Elizabeth Towers development. Photo: Image / Supplied
Elizabeth Towers at Thirty Eight Elizabeth, which has shops, apartments and restaurants, opened its retail doors this morning.
City and business leaders hope it is what they call 'the end of the beginning' in revitalising the city's centre.
When Tauranga City Commissioner Anne Tolley took on her role last year, she was shocked to find a neglected CBD.
"There were lots of empty shops, it was just deserted," Tolley said.
"I came into the heart of the city to find its arteries were clogged and it needed a defibrillator - it was really quite true. It needed a good kickstart."
However, with the first phase of the towers opening and council plans to bolster the revitalisation, the city was becoming something residents could be proud of, Tolley said.
"Centre cities used to be places people came to look at, and we want Tauranga to be like that too.
"That is the aim. A CBD that not only the people of Tauranga, but people of New Zealand can be proud of and this is the start of that."
"This" being the development which includes 120 apartments and town houses with a sky garden and dining precinct, scheduled to open later this year.
Thirty Eight Elizabeth project manager Brett Nicholls said he hoped Tauranga would be the place to be in a couple of years.
"This is the southern gateway, the start of, we believe, the CBD redevelopment in Tauranga. Tauranga is as a CBD has an immense growth potential."
The multi-use development of residential, retail, cafes, and restaurants was part of a global trend, however, Tauranga was among the first cities in the country to utilise it, Nicholls said.
"People can enjoy living in the CBD environment, in the quiet of their space whilst enjoying the amenities that are on offer in the CBD.
"That's going to end up doubling the number of people working and living in the CBD overnight."
Resource Co-Ordination Partnership project manger Kelvin Edens worked on the project since its inception.
While working in Dubai, there were many multi-use developments of this nature, Edens said, but never before had he seen it in New Zealand.
"New Zealanders traditionally loved having their own house on a separate section and the transition to more high density living in apartments and townhouses has slowly been happening over the last 20 years.
"This is just another evolution in the way that we live."
Already, people are venturing into the city to take a look at the new retail offerings.
One shopper said she was excited for the impact it would have on the many small business, struggling through the effects of Covid-19.
Meanwhile, another said he hoped the new stores would bring new foot traffic into the city.
"It's starting to come right, we are starting to see some changes for the good, but this is a start."
Economic development agency Priority One chief executive Nigel Tutt said over the past decade the CBD had been neglected while the city itself had easily been the fastest growing in the country.
Last year was the city's rock bottom point and today was hopefully the start of turning the downward trend on its head, Tutt said.
"There is about $1.5 billion worth of development that is either underway or is coming in the next five years.
"Our firm belief was that you don't build a vibrant city by having solely retail offerings, you have to be able to bring people here.
"The way to do that is through people living, people studying and through people working in the CBD - and that's where the effort of developers is going into."
Tutt hoped this first step would lead to thousands of people soon living in the central business district.