Victoria St development underpins precinct

By Chris Hutching

Friday 2nd November 2001

A new retail showroom and office building unveiled for Christchurch's Victoria St this week by developer Ernest Duval is part of a renaissance that is lifting property values in the precinct.

The building will be constructed on the site of an old Mobil station on the corner of Victoria and Dorset St, an area that has recently attracted new office, retail and cafe bar developments. They include refurbishment of the Tower building, new homeware and furnishing stores, antique shops, retailers like Kimberleys, and hairdresser Karl Watkins Ltd, while developer Richmond Paynter has plans for a luxury apartment development nearby.

Mr Duval's new building will boast 1000sq m of ground floor retail space and 37 roof-top car parks with potential for building further floors.

"It's a high-profile site so we're building a feature dome, a gilded cupola in the style of the Secession buildings in Vienna that will be lit up at night. We'd like to make an artistic contribution given the visibility of the area.

"Victoria St has seen a lot of developments over the past 12 to 24 months and it has some similarities to Parnell in that many of the retail and service outlets are frequented by office workers.

"Employers find it easier to keep people when they are in this kind of environment."

The retailing on the old service station site has increased significantly in recent months but sales of petrol failed to keep up.

"There's only so much money you can make out of large expanses of tar seal, so it was clear that if retailing was becoming the focus then it was time for the site to be redeveloped,"said Mr Duval, who has owned the site for 12 years.

Most significantly, the site is on the correct side of the road where much of the recent restaurant/bar/retail development has taken place.

This is due to the northwest angle of the road so that the western side retains all-day sunshine.

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