City abuzz as Invercargill Central stage one set to open
Anticipation and excitement are building as Invercargill Central prepares for the grand opening of stage one on Thursday.
The new inner-city development is set to transform the region and reinforce Southland as leading the way in innovation and redesign.
The Centre is being blessed by Ngāi Tahu Kaumātua Michael Skerrett and will be formally opened by The Mayor of Invercargill, Sir Tim Shadbolt.
Invercargill Central will be launching in three stages, with stage one welcoming a range of top retailers. Farmers, Glassons, Pascoes the Jewellers, 2degrees, Merchant 1948, Michael Hill, Pagani, Mister Minit, Mobile King and Amazon are all set to open on Thursday.
Cotton On Mega, EB Games, Just Cuts and The Coffee Club will be opening later in the coming weeks.
Invercargill Central Ltd Chair, Scott O’Donnell said stage one of the opening is a huge milestone for everyone who has played a part in bringing the city’s vision to life.
“This is truly an exciting asset to bring into the region and being able to include such a range of high-quality retailers is something we can’t wait to share with our community and visitors to the city,” he said.
The first opening is the culmination of the vision brought about by the Southland regional development strategy in 2016 to re-vitalise and regenerate the CBD of Invercargill.
The development equity investors of Invercargill City Council, Crown Regional Holdings Limited, O’Donnell Family Investments and Geoff Thomson, have combined their knowledge and resources to carry out the development successfully. Community Trust South has provided support for this project.
The first stage of opening comprises 11,570m2 of new constructed area for stores, atriums, and amenities, plus three acres of covered car parking, offering space for over 300 cars.
Patrons can park for 0 - 60 minutes free of charge, and for every hour following, parking is an additional $3 per hour. Payment is easy via cashless machines at each level, or through a parking app.
The centre will provide a very high-level shopping experience, usually associated more with major metropolitan cities.
Scott O’Donnell said bringing the heart back into the city is something that will have a wider impact for all of Invercargill and Southland.
“The inner-city redevelopment is an exciting and visible sign of the positive and prosperous future of Invercargill,” O’Donnell said.
The centre is opening 21 months after vertical construction began in October 2020, and 29 months from the commencement of demolition.
This is a significant achievement to have overcome the considerable hurdles encountered over the last two years through Covid restrictions and lockdowns, overseas shipping and resource issues and is testament to the efforts of those involved.
Contractors, Amalgamated Builders Limited (main contractor), and their subcontractors, Ceres Environmental (demolition), Smith Crane and Construction (piling) and Southern Insulation (environmental) together with the design and delivery team of Cronos Projects, Buchan Group, Lewis Bradford Consulting Engineers, Cosgroves Limited, Holmes Fire, WT Partnership, Geosolve, Abley, Heritage Properties NZ, Fulton Ross, and Bonisch Consultants have helped in turning this vision into reality.
The opening hours of stage one are Monday to Saturday from 9am until 6pm, and Sunday 10am until 5pm.
With Invercargill Central beginning to open in stages, the second stage is set to launch in the lead up to Christmas.
Stage two will add a further 4000m2 of shopping area, and a further 350 car parks will be opened in late November 2022.
Keep up-to-date with news and to see which exciting retailers are opening next.
https://www.invercargillcentral.nz/