Hurdle to $50m retail park lifted

Friday 21st May 2004

The last major hurdle for a $50 million Hamilton retail development has been removed, with Westfield NZ abandoning its long-running litigation against Tainui Group.

Tainui Group which is responsible for Tainui's commercial assets and investments is developing the old Te Rapa Airforce base on the outskirts of Hamilton, with anchor tenant The Warehouse Group.

In March, retail heavyweights Westfield and Kiwi Property Management and Wengate Holdings lost a HIgh Court appeal attempting to overturn a 2003 Environment Court decision.

Despite the Environment Court and High Court defeats, Westfield persisted by asking the High Court for permission to appeal to the Court of Appeal.

Westfield had now dropped the High Court application and construction would start in July, Tainui Group chief executive Steve Murray said.

Despite the failed High Court attempt to block the development, Murray said building had been held back "out of prudence."

Murray said the litigation had "consumed financial and human resources to achieve the outcome we thought we should have achieved two years ago and that is frustrating."

The expected opening date for the first stage of the site The Warehouse and The Warehouse Station was mid-2005, Warehouse Group property director Glen Inger said.

Appropriate consents were lodged with the council last week and Inger was confident the consents would be granted.

The retail park which is being branded "The Base" will include at least two dozen shops and may have a cinema and entertainment complex.

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