The new Quest on Manchester has come in good time for Christchurch, with the build of one more hotel complete and adding another 46 serviced apartments to the city’s accommodation stock.
Canterbury Property Investments (CPI) has been working with Quest Hotels for the past three years, originally planning the new hotel for the site of the old Press Building in Cathedral Square.
“We couldn’t get the numbers to work for that site as it would have needed a large number of fire walls due to its proximity to surrounding buildings,” says Canterbury Property Investments director Craig Newbury.
“We are now using the old Coker’s site on the corner of Manchester and Southwark Streets.
“The land down here is a bit cheaper, and being a corner site makes the construction easier and cheaper as well.” Its location is still in the heart of town, and Craig says is in the part of the central city which has been redeveloped both quickest and longest.
“There is a definite drift down to this part of town, and it has great ambience.” The building includes two ground floor tenancies which have been leased, as well as 38 car parks.
14 of those will be used by Quest on Manchester, 12 by the tenants, leaving 12 extra car parks. “It’s always good to have car parks,” says Canterbury Property Investments director Miles Yeoman.
“The Council is getting rid of all the on-street car parks, and it’s always the first thing tenants ask us for.”
The 2600sqm hotel was built by Canterbury Property Investments’ long-time construction partner Miles Construction.
The project took 15 months to build and has come in on time and on budget. It has used only local or New Zealand suppliers. “We haven’t gone to China for anything,” Miles says.
“We talked about it but for the cost savings we could have made, we preferred to use local suppliers for their after service, and if we need to replace anything it’s right here on our doorstep.”
Quest on Manchester is a unique project for Canterbury Property Investments in that the company is completing the full fit out.
“When Quest walks in it’s fully operational, right down to the last teaspoon,” Craig says.
Quest on Manchester – a unique project for Canterbury Property Investments.
Quest on Manchester is taking bookings for July. It offers a combination of studio rooms with fully equipped kitchenettes, and one and two bedroom apartments, some with interconnecting doors.
Canterbury Property Investments has also been working on a bulk retail complex on a 1.2ha site in Rangiora, where Briscoes moved in a month ahead of schedule last September. In June, Supercheap Auto, Animates, Warehouse Stationery, and Hagley Aluminium will join Briscoes in Rangiora.
Canterbury Property Investments is now turning its attention to a recently purchased bulk retail site in Ashburton.
“It’s getting more challenging to develop in our CBD, so we’re looking for opportunities elsewhere,” Miles says.
Canterbury Property Investments overcame one such challenge in April, when after a 15 month, $100,000 battle, the City Council approved a resource consent for the construction of a replica of the Category One heritage building Excelsior Hotel.
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Quest on Manchester - a unique project for Canterbury Property Investments.
